Light in the Fog
by EvenAtDaysEnd
Summary: Emerald has orders from Cinder and she plans to carry them out, but when a chance encounter with a handsome boy has her acting different, will she be able to forget and move on? Or will she complicated things too far? RWBY AU (eventually) JaunexEmerald/ 7up pairing ((updating slowly, but chapters are coming!))
1. Chapter 1

Emerald Sustrai was an accomplished pickpocket. She was Cinder right hand, the true destined Fall Maiden. She was a hardened criminal who knew the dirtiest part of the world. So why, then, was she currently in the arms of a clumsy blond knight known as Jaune Arc?

* * *

"I don't see why it matters to look around this boring city." Mercury called from behind Cinder. She turned to see him, all silver and black, with his hands behind his head, casually as ever. She glared.

"Haven't you learned by now? This is an important mission. We need to know our surroundings at any moment. What if we need to follow a lead? It's good to know the best locations to hide." She lectured. Emerald sighed.

"Honestly, Mercury, I know you're supposed to be a stereotype, but you can't be that dumb." she scolded. "Besides, this city is very interesting. I like it anyway." She added.

He gave her a half-smile. "And what stereotype might that be, Emmy? Devilishly handsome and irresistible?"

"Absolutely not." It irritated her that he constantly tried to keep up this weird tension between them. It had gotten so bad that Cinder sometimes even asked if they were a thing from time to time. Mercury was nothing more than a friend and colleague, and sometimes she hesitated to go that far.

" Look, Mercury, if the White Fang were to burst in here, or some unplanned attack by Roman occurred, we need to know how best to avoid the situation." Emerald explained.

"Or to neutralize it." Cinder said somberly, her usual terrifying tone accompanying the words.

"Fine, whatever ladies. Can we at least grab something to eat?" Mercury complained.

"Grab, or buy?" Emerald mused mischievously.

"I suppose we can buy something." Cinder responded over her shoulder. At that moment however, Emerald noticed a very shiny ring a shop window.

"You guys go ahead, I see something I like." Cinder only waved her hand, allowing the girl freedom to steal. Mercury chuckled.

Emerald walked toward the store, glancing at the two bronze bands on each of her middle fingers. She nodded, deciding that they needed a new friend. The store bell tinkled, announcing her entry. She held her hand innocently in front of her, pretending to pluck a stray string from the olive green scarf she had on.

"Hello and welcome! If you have any questions let me know!" The storekeep greeted warmly.

"Of course." Emerald pretended to be shy. She noticed there was only one other customer in the store. She didn't want to use her semblance for this. To her luck, the boy in the sweatshirt asked for help on something. He must've been buying something for a girl he liked, she could hear his bumbling from the entrance. Emerald rolled her eyes and turned towards a table, seeing the same ring in the window. Much more convenient to take it from here than in front of a large display window. She slipped the ring into her pocket and pretended to look closely at the necklace next to it.

It had a small silver chain and a simple, fake diamond teardrop attached. Nothing like the silver ring she'd just pocketed, carved with ornate designs and center with a real emerald. The mint-haired girl paced the store a while longer to avoid suspicion, focused on an expensive set earrings Cinder might like when the other customer bumped into her.

"H-hey!" she stuttered, taken by surprise. The boy had instinctively grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. He had piercing blue eyes that were broken up on by yellow locks that fell over them.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I was looking at a bracelet my oldest sister might like. I wasn't looking at all." He noticed his hand on Emerald and quickly drew away, taking a step back to give her space.

"I didn't mean to grab you, I just didn't want you to fall." Emerald could still feel the heat of his touch, of how close he had been. She cleared her throat, absentmindedly patting her pocket for the ring. "I-it's fine. That was very kind of you."

"Look, I don't have a lot of lien on me, but can I buy you some ice-cream as an apology?" Emerald blushed. This guy was bold. He held his hand out as if to lead her there. If nothing else, this was a natural way to leave the shop, and she had probably missed most of Cinder and Mercury's meal. She took his hand.

"Fine, I suppose." He smiled, leading her out.

"My name is Jaune, Jaune Arc. A pleasure to meet you, my lady." He bowed as he introduced himself outside of store.

"Emerald Sustrai." She responded, hiding her blush. She was used to hearing, and saying, that phrase toward Cinder, hearing it toward herself was a pleasant change. Jaune gave her a goofy grin, walking toward an ice-cream truck alongside the girl.

"So are you a huntress? I don't think I've seen you before at Beacon." He asked.

"N-no, I'm from Haven." she lied. "I'm only here for the festival." Jaune's face became concerned. It looked slightly adorable against his Pumpkin Pete hoodie.

"Emerald, why are you out here alone? It's really easy to get lost in the city. I should know." He muttered that last part, laughing awkwardly and scratching his face. She wondered why he was so concerned when he'd only just met her. She fiddled with a piece of her hair.

"I had some friends with me, but I wanted to look at the shop and well, they got food." Her stomach growled softly at the mention.

Jaune had his arms crossed and was nodding, as if convincing himself of something. "In that case, I'll walk you back to the academy. Tell them your in capable hands, my lady." He gave her a thumbs up before stumbling on a lifted bit of cobblestone. "See? Capable." Emerald giggled, surprising herself.

"Okay." She pulled out her scroll and typed out a message to Cinder.

" ** _A guy bumped into me at the shop. Won't leave me alone. Said he was going to walk me to the academy."_**

Her response didn't take long.

" ** _Oh? Cheating on Mercury are we? Did you at least get the jewelry?"_**

" ** _We are Not a thing! Grr. Yes I did."_**

" ** _Laugh a little Em, guys like that."_**

The last response was so like Mercury she had to reread it to make sure. As if to confirm it was Cinder, her scroll beeped again. This time from Mercury.

" ** _Tell him to buzz off."_**

Emerald huffed, slamming her scroll shut. She looked up at Jaune. "Everything okay?" he asked softly. Emerald's heart fluttered. Even with the childish shirt, she couldn't help but notice he was kind of handsome, in a boyish kind of way. She remembered how firm his grip was on her arm. She may have insisted him.

"Yeah. Just my friends up, teasing me."

"Oh, I know how that is. This girl, Yang, she always has something to tease people about. Just the other day she-" he cut himself off, eyes darting up. He grabbed Emerald and pulled her into his arms just as a loud _whoosh_ passes behind her. "Watch out, jerk!" Jaune shouted at the cyclist.

At this point, Emerald noticed a few things: She never expected to be held like this by a nice guy by accident, this all happened because of a pretty ring, and that he felt very strong and very warm. She gripped his arm a little tighter. Firm, yet still soft.

"Hmm? Are you alright?" he asked. Emerald looked up at him, red eyes to blue.

"Yes?" she answered quietly. She couldn't understand why she was attracted to this guy. Just at a glance she could tell he was the polar opposite of her. If he knew she'd stolen the ring, he'd run back to pay for it even if he didn't have enough. So what was it?

"E-Emerald?" She hadn't moved from his side. He was tall enough that their faces were only inches apart. She looked down and regained her composure, standing away from him. Clearly, he had as little experience with girls as she had with guys. At least, romantically.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm usually not like this. I'm the playful type, you know? Not really shy." she laughed nervously.

"That's okay. I think I'm acting a little different, too." Jaune responded slowly. He walked the last few steps to the ice-cream truck, leaving Emerald to play with the hem of her white tee shirt. "Okay, let me guess… you like Neapolitan flavor?" She perked up at Jaune's unintentional pun. She snorted, trying not to laugh.

"Actually, strawberry with almonds, but I guess you got one of those flavors." she grinned, feeling more like her normal self. Once she got back to Beacon, she could forget all about this weird feeling she had. Jaune shrugged.

"One strawberry with almonds and… hmm, make that two actually. With a cherry on one." He finished the order and paid for the ice-cream. Meanwhile, Emerald cursed herself for not thinking of the cherry. As he came over she looked at his sadly. Something that important couldn't be swiped, even with her semblance. He looked at her and then the ice-cream cone. He smiled and handed her his cone.

"A-are you sure?!" Emerald gratefully took the cone. Jaune just nodded.

"I should've gotten an extra just in case." he muttered apologetically. She looked to the fruit, matching her own eyes. She decided to be bold, after all, once she got to Beacon, things went back to normal. She bit half of the cherry and quickly popped the other into his talkative mouth. His eyes widened, but the surprise was soon replaced with joy.

"Perfection." Emerald laughed.

She was able to finish her cone just as the airship arrived Jaune had already long finished his and taken some chewable pill. Her stomach was grateful for the frozen treat, but she couldn't wait to grab something extra at the academy. The two boarded the airship and sat next to each other.

"You know, I can never get over the view out here. It's a lot different than my hometown." Jaune commented.

"Plus, it was always hard to watch the scenery with seven sisters always bugging me." he chuckled affectionately. Emerald scooted closer to see what he was seeing.

"I wouldn't know. I don't really remember my family." She admitted. "I might've had a brother or sister, but I don't think it really matters. Mercury and Cinder are my family now. Come to think of it, I might know what you mean. Right now Mercury would probably be teasing me or trying, and failing, to be funny. Cinder would just roll her eyes and act like we're annoying, but deep down, I know she's really happy to have us around." Emerald smiled.

"You look really pretty smiling like that." Jaune commented, brushing his bangs away from his eyes. "I can tell you've been through a lot. I don't know what, but I guess that's why I wanted to buy you ice-cream. I felt like you haven't had enough kindness shown to you… or something." He looked around nervously.

Emerald blinked. "Has something happened to you, Jaune?" She saw him stiffen a little.

"I guess you could say that. I'm sure it's nothing compared to you though. I can tell you're strong. Oh, speaking of, I hope I didn't offend you by being all protective earlier." Emerald shook her head, making her hair tickle her face.

"It was kind of nice, actually. I should've been more aware of my surroundings, but I liked that I didn't have to be. Don't tell Cinder that, though, okay?" Not that he'd ever even meet Cinder. Jaune agreed with an adorable grin.

"Also, thank you for, you know," he gestured at his attire. "Not making fun of my clothes."

"It adds charm." Emerald remarked, giggling. This seemed to be exactly what Jaune wanted to hear, as he his eyes lit up. He looked out the window again, this time whistling. Emerald leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes. This was the nice kind of pretend. Where she wasn't acting, but she could pretend this could last forever. Even if she met him again, she knew that he would never agree with what she had to do for Salem, no, for Cinder. He would never forgive her, no matter how nice she was. Emerald knew Jaune couldn't understand that sometimes people, and places, had to fall.

* * *

 **So what do you think? I don't really see a lot of Jaune and Emerald pairings, but she's honestly one of my top favorites. I thought it'd be interesting. I have some plans for how things will be different than canon. I will definitely enjoy writing jealous Pyrrha and Mercury :3**


	2. Chapter 2

Once they arrived at Beacon, Jaune walked Emerald to her dorms and gave a polite goodbye, saying he hoped to see her again. The mint haired girl simply nodded and muttered a goodbye. As she made her way through the academy halls, she felt herself returning to normal. _What was that shy and submissive personality before?_ She wondered. Emerald had never been like that before. She shook her head, chalking it up to not being familiar with nice guy types. That must be it.

She creaked open the door to team CMEN's room. She noticed, of course, that Neo wasn't present, but that wasn't a surprise. Her registry was more a formality. The mute girl had her own tasks.

Emerald didn't have a chance to see Mercury's sullen expression or the bag of take out lying on her bed due to Cinder throwing the door open, making Emerald stumble.

"My dear friend. How did it go?" Cinder had a smile on her face and a sparkle in the eye not covered with raven fringe. She still wore her casual clothes, but her long hair had been pulled into a ponytail, a style she reserved for closed doors, saying it was "comfortable, but not intimidating."

"W-what do you mean?" Emerald straightened her white shorts and started to remove her scarf.

"You did leave us behind for a guy, correct?" Cinder taunted, closing the door. Mercury shifted on his bed before deciding to get in a few push-ups.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. It was more that he was too nice to leave me alone, you know? I couldn't really get away. I didn't want to bring suspicion to the team later on." It seemed convincing enough. To be honest, Emerald wasn't sure why she hadn't just brushed Jaune off to begin with. He wasn't _that_ cute after all.

Cinder made an understanding noise, then grabbed Emerald's hand, moving the duo to sit on the leader's orange-eyed girl took a moment to think. "Look, Em, I want you to know that I am your leader, yes, but also your friend." Emerald raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic softness of Cinder's voice. "So, with that being said, I want an honest answer. Was he cute?" The sparkle returned to Cinder's eyes, reminding Emerald of the fire inside the respected Lady.

Before she spoke, Emerald vaguely noticed how Mercury changed suddenly to a more rigorous set of one arm push-ups, making unnecessary grunts between switches. "Jaune was… handsome, I guess? Tall and blond. I wouldn't say he's normally my type, but he wasn't hard to look at." She knew her cheeks were as red as her eyes. There was no way that even her darker skin tone could hide her blush. She shifted uncomfortably. "H-he was strong, though. You know, fit?" She continued, accompanied by a loud grunt from her silver themed friend.

Cinder leaned forward. "How do you know that, hmm?"

Emerald opened her mouth nervously, not really wanting to admit the moment of weakness. Luckily, before she could make a sound, Mercury abruptly stood. "Isn't it a little late, ladies? We have planning to do or something, right Cinder?" He spoke deliberately. Cinder raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Of course, my dear comrade. I got a little carried away." Their mistress stood. "Maybe if we see the man able to fluster my dearest friend, we can talk about him more?"

She held out her hand to Emerald in question. Emerald huffed. "No, thank you. That was a one time thing." She grabbed the hand offered to her then made her way to the bathroom to wash up. "And I was _not_ flustered. I just wasn't acting like myself today for some reason." She closed the door on Cinder's amused giggle.

* * *

Jaune entered his room in an interesting state. At the moment, Ren and Nora were were the only team members visible, but he could hear the shower running, meaning Pyrrha was there as well.

The goofball knight strode up to Nora, who was currently putting stickers on random pages of her grimm textbook. He dropped to his knees and grabbed her hand in his, a pink dinosaur still stuck to her index finger.

"Nora. I think I just accidentally went on a date." The confusion and panic in his voice stopped the freckled girl for a moment. "Accidentally?" Normally, she would've laughed, but his touching her meant he was probably desperate for help. She felt Ren lean forward.

Jaune nodded. "I bumped into this cute girl and bought her ice-cream, but kind of also saved her from a guy on a bike and she also fed me a cherry? Also, she sort of fell asleep on my shoulder on the airship back. Is that normal?" At this, Nora did laugh. When she finished, she stuck her little dinosaur on Jaune's cheek.

"Poor Jauney, you casanova. That girl must've liked you a whole lot. I know _I'd_ have to like someone a whole lot to feed them. Food is important, you know."

"You feed Ren sometimes." Jaune deadpanned, causing Nora to blush.

"E-er, that's because we know each other really well. It's different." Nora cleared her throat. "Either way, I noticed some people act weird around you sometimes, but I think that's a bit more than weird, right my fellow in pink?"

Ren pulled a strand of his pink streak into view. "I guess so." He replied absently.

Jaune dropped his face into Nora's comforter. "Whaff do ey do?" he spoke into the blanket. Nora patted his head.

"You said she was cute, right? I'd say go for it, even if she is from…?"

"Haven."

"Right, there. I'm sure Pyrrha wouldn't mind if the girl treated you right." Jaune gave Nora a strange look.

"If you think about it, Jaune, this girl was interested in you even in that childish attire. I don't see a problem with at least meeting her again." Ren held his hands in a 'why not?' type of gesture.

The blue eyed boy thought for a moment. "You guys make a lot of sense."

"About what?" Pyrrha was towel drying her bright red hair, curiosity in her expression. Nora laughed nervously, distracting herself with her stickers. Ren coughed. "I was just giving Jaune some… brotherly advice. Nora was just adding to it, like she does."

Jaune gasped happily. "Brotherly?!" Pyrrha nodded in understanding. "I see."

* * *

The following week, Jaune looked for Emerald, hoping that he could at least talk to her again, maybe see if, by some miracle, she was still interested in him. He occasionally remembered all the pointers his dad gave him when he thought of the dark skinned girl. It was kind of funny that he hadn't really used any of that advice this time.

Each day passed without even a sign of her, not even near the Haven students. Jaune refused to think she would lie him about her school, much less to the point of having him take her all the way to Beacon for no reason. She was definitely in the academy. He just wasn't looking hard enough.

Thinking maybe he'd get lucky this time in the cafeteria, Jaune made his way through the now familiar halls of his training school, adjusting his blazer. "This thing is worse than armor."

A squeak in front of him caught his attention. He glanced up and caught a flash of mint green hair going into one the window alcoves. _Bingo!_

Emerald hadn't spotted him in time. She was putting notes about the tournament in her scroll went he turned down the hallway. She barely had enough time to react. The whole week she'd been using her semblance to keep him away from her. When her head cleared the day after meeting him, she realized one important

thing. Someone like him would end up hanging around and ruining Cinder's flawless plan. It was inevitable.

Emerald had launched out of sight instinctively, not even thinking of activating her semblance to simply walk by him. Unfortunately for her, though, she'd hopped into a dead end. See saw her reflection in the large ornate window. Many Emeralds becoming panicked at once.

She turned around. If she wanted to hide from Jaune, she had to time things perfectly when he rounded the corner.

"E-Emerald?" Her heart beat loudly at his nervous call. It felt at that moment that the whole mission was in jeopardy if he saw her. It even might've been. She had his from him, something normal, unnoticed people didn't do. This would definitely catch his attention even more.

Jaune took a deep breath and poked his head around the corner. He thought for a moment he'd seen green, but he was wrong. Only the window looked back at him.

Defeated he leaned against the wall corner. It felt important to him to find her. He wanted her to know that he had fun with her, even if it did still confuse him. He wanted to know more about her.

Jaune was aware that he was too clumsy and too bad with women to even begin to know what to actually talk about, but he wanted to at least be her friend while she was visiting.

"Where are you, Emerald?" He sighed, not sure if it was even worth it to keep looking. She might not have wanted to be found.

Emerald didn't breathe until he was through the cafeteria doors. She couldn't get his expression out her head, his words. "He was… looking for me?" Her heart fluttered. Emerald stood up straight. "It doesn't matter."

She hated feeling vulnerable because of him. She hated hiding. She was stronger than that. She went through too much of that before Cinder found her. Emerald owed everything to Cinder. The weakness she felt would only fail her mistress in the end.

Emerald looked down that ring she'd stole that first day. "I'll just tell him to buzz off next time. Maybe take his wallet for good measure." She took a deep breath and smiled. "Besides, Em, you're totally too bad for him anyway." She giggled and went about her business.

Jaune found her, but she was always with these two people, either in a deep conversation he didn't want to interrupt or open, but his own friends snagged him before he could move towards her. The one time he did get closer, the male of the trio tossed his arm around her and glared at him. If it weren't for Emerald immediately shoving him off and sticking out her tongue, Jaune might've just stopped there. He didn't want to bother her or make a scene.

It wasn't until the Vytal fair that he bumped into her… again.

"Hey watch where you're-!" Emerald, still in her battle gear, stopped in surprise at the person in front of her. "Jaune?"

"Emerald!" He was so surprised, he'd accidentally shouted her name, catching all nearby attention.

"Look, I would love to catch up but I'm kind of busy." She glanced at a nearby boot stall, then behind him. She tried to move around him, but he touched her arm gently. She looked furious for a moment until their eyes met.

"Emerald, I just-." Now that he finally had her, he didn't know what to say.

"Tell me in second, okay? I have Ruby's wallet." Emerald held up a red wallet full of various store cards. Jaune thought there may have been a toy credit card among them. "You don't want her to freak out, do you?"

"I- ah, guess not." Jaune removed his hand from her, resigned. Emerald flashed a smile and rushed off to the small huntress.

He waited, unsure if he should leave. His team was going to be called up for the round one battles in less than an hour. Jaune sighed.

"Why can't you give it a rest?" Jaune jumped, his hand instinctively reaching toward Crocea Mors, his trusted sword. His gaze met with Emerald's male teammate.

"What do you mean?" Jaune made sure not to break eye contact. Maybe it was his training, or maybe it was the whole male domination thing, but either way, he didn't trust this guy.

The smirk on his face faltered. He cleared his throat.

"I mean Emerald." He tried to keep his voice steady, but he seemed suddenly reserved. Jaune relax a bit, wondering where all that bravado had gone. This person couldn't be… scared of him, right?

"Name's Mercury, and, uh, I'm pretty much trying to tell you that you're not her type. I am?" This guy was getting stranger by the second.

"Riiiight. That's cool, man." Jaune awkwardly turned around trying to get out the conversation without leaving his spot. He started whistling a tune for emphasis.

"Your team can join us if you want!" Ruby asked Emerald, hopeful. She clearly liked having as many friends as humanly possible. Gross.

"Actually, my team is kind introverted. You know, socially awk-." Emerald stopped mid-turn. Mercury was supposed to be doing something weird, but what she saw was far beyond that.

The usually smug guy she knew was currently trying to catch Jaune's attention in any way possible. Waving hands, snapping, even making 'coo' sounds, all the while, the knight was looking everywhere and anywhere, arms crossed, whistling very un-casual-like.

"I can see some definite awkwardness going on." Ruby commented. Emerald turned back to the group, laughing nervously. "S-so, who do you guys have competing in the doubles round?" She had to get this information for Cinder, but it was hard to concentrate on team RWBY's banter with Mercury's obnoxious noises behind her.

"Yang and Weiss." Her attention was brought back by the pale, dark haired girl of the team. She was pointed at said members, who gave their own remarks about the decision.

"Oh, cool. If Merc and I see you down the line, we won't go easy on you guys." She fake smiled, eager to end the conversation with these sunshine girls.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Yang played back. The team waved and made their way toward whatever food stall they'd picked before.

Emerald sighed and grumbled. She really didn't like how happy they always were. But even though they were bad, she figured the situation behind her was far worse.

Emerald flicked Mercury on the forehead. "What exactly are you doing?" She put her hands on her hips to show her irritation.

"I- He-." Mercury slumped. "I don't really know. I came to tell him he was a loser and be all cool, like I always am, but I don't know what happened." Emerald raised an eyebrow, but gave in to his excuse anyway.

"Thanks, Mercury." She figured he was just trying to protect her and the mission. "Can you tell Cinder something for me?" She whispered RWBY's contestants in his ear then shooed him away.

Now for the hardest part. She turned on her heel, putting on her 'ohmigosh I love friends!' face.

"Hi!" She over exaggerated.

"I guess I'm really not your type if you're giving me that, huh?" Jaune scratched his head awkwardly. He'd seen right through her act. She blushed.

"It's not that, really. Did Mercury tell you that?" She knew she shouldn't have forgiven that troublemaker.

"Yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I had fun with you last week. I guess that's it." He seemed so sad, Emerald was surprised to feel a twinge of guilt for pretending in front of him. She looked him in his blue puppy eyes.

"That's it?" Now she sounded disappointed. His words from the hallway made it seem like he had more to say than just a simple hello. Jaune brightened just a bit.

"You were really cool in the team fight. You and the one in brown worked together really well!" He praised. Emerald felt another blush. She and Cinder were always in sync in battle, but for him to have watched so closely, it made her a bit embarrassed to think about.

"Thanks. By the way, aren't you next?" She remembered his team's placement in the roster. It still surprised her that he was the team leader and not the cereal mascot, Pyrrha Nikos.

"Yeah, I was actually going to grab something-." He was cut off by a loud wail nearby.

"But _Reeeen_ what if we lose and we really _do_ get renamed team LosePR!?" A loud pink and orange girl cried. Jaune chuckled and sighed.

"That's my team. I guess I should've expected they'd look for me." Emerald could see he felt bad about being away from them right before a match. Normally, concern like that would make her ill, but it was kind of cute to see him care for his colleagues.

"Hello, Jaune. Oh? Hello, who is this?" The famous Pyrrha was the first to notice the green and yellow pair. Emerald locked eyes with the taller woman. Red to vivid green. The kind of green that didn't know what the world had in store for her just yet. The things Cinder had planned for Emerald to do to her.

"So how do you two know each other?" The gladiator asked politely, breaking eye contact with one person only to find another's. She looked at Jaune the polar opposite of how she looked at Emerald.

"I met her in the city while I was getting that gift for my sister." Pyrrha nodded sadly.

"I just bought her an ice-cream and took her home. It was least I could do to keep her safe." He continued.

"Yes, it was a nice date, I think." Emerald chimed in, goading the celebrity. Jaune turned red. Pyrrha's eyes widened. His other teammates coughed and failed to hide it.

"W-was it a date? I mean, not that I wouldn't want to go on a date with you, you're really pretty." Jaune was a fumbling mess in a matter of moments. Emerald giggled, enjoying the chaos she was starting.

"What do you say we grab some food!?" The freckled member shouted. "Nice to meet you, Minty person! We have to get prepared!" Quick as lightning, she pushed Jaune toward a stall before he could object. Pyrrha followed silently.

"Pleasure to meet you. Nora and I have heard a bit about you. Pyrrha, not so much. I apologize for out behavior." The last member, an older boy with almond shaped eyes and a pink dyed streak, said, rushing off to join JNPR.

Emerald waved a goodbye. She knew she shouldn't have said more than two words to Jaune, but something drew her to him. She didn't want to think about how he'd feel if he knew what she was really up to, so she didn't.

Walking toward the participants viewing area, she spun a bronze disc between her palms, watching the Nikos emblem flip over and over. She briefly wondered if it would look good on her hip, too.

"It's a thought." she mused.

* * *

 **How was this latest chapter? I tried to keep it similar to the whole scene where she took Ruby's wallet, but changes did have to be made. I will explain Mercury's behavior later, don't worry!**

 **Also I thought about it. Emerald and Jaune are green and yellow. So lemon/ lime.**

 **Therefore, while there may or may not be lemons/ limes, there's still LemonLime! *ba dum tss***


	3. Chapter 3

Emerald stood in the stands, leaning against a railing in the participant seating area. The match between JNPR and the team from Vacuo had yet to start. Emerald bit into what was left of her funnel cake.

"Emerald, darling." Emerald tensed before she recognized Cinder's voice. The fact that her mistress could so easily sneak up on her was scary.

"Y-yes, my lady?" She stuttered. Cinder smiled.

"Mercury just told me something… interesting, and maybe a bit concerning." Cinder looked out toward to field, half mountain, half forest.

"I want you to watch your little boy toy very closely. I want you to learn what you can before we invade the Beacon tower."

"If Mercury is worried, can't he do it?" Emerald asked trying to hide her irritation. She was trying to stay away from him, and Cinder had known that.

"He doesn't trust our silver haired friend. He does, however, trust you. As do I." Cinder made sure to give a look that she knew Emerald couldn't refuse. As much as she didn't want to agree, it made sense.

"What should I look for?" She resigned, taking another bite of her treat. Cinder thought for a moment.

"Mercury told me that he suddenly felt and acted differently. He was aware of it the whole time, but unable to stop it.

"You know the type of person he is. Mercury is not one to easily become shy or introverted like some sort of weakling, and yet he spoke with the boy and changed into just that."

Emerald listened intently to Cinder's explanation.

"Simply put, this boy may have a powerful passive semblance. We need to know what it is and if he knows how to properly use it. Something able to change a person so drastically, even temporarily might be able to stop our take over."

Emerald understood completely. She vaguely thought about that first day with Jaune. She was normally bold, but that day she was flirty and, to a degree, honest with a stranger. Had he used his semblance on her, and if he did, why?

"I'll do it. You can trust me, Cinder. I won't let anything get in the way of taking down the fall maiden."

"Good." Her mistress gave a wicked grin. She wiped off a bit of powdered sugar from Emerald's face and popped it into her mouth, walking away as she did so.

Emerald blushed, turning her attention back to the field where both teams were being introduced.

"Team JNPR, from our very own Beacon academy!" The loud speaker announced, accompanied by applause.

"Team BRNZ from Shade academy!" More cheers.

Emerald kept a close eye on all the team, but especially it's star and leader. Pyrrha was very capable fighter, parrying and reacting to almost every hit thrown her way.

Jaune wasn't contributing much to the fight, but he was issuing quick and competent orders.

"Spread out! Try to keep moving!"

"Nora, to the mountain!"

"Ren, try and distract the sniper!"

"Pyrrha, up!"

With the last order, he launched Pyrrha from his shield, sending her into the perfect position to deflect the sniper's shot that was aimed at Nora Valkyrie.

Emerald hadn't thought he able to be commanding and quick-witted that way, yet here he was, showing all of Remnant why he was the leader his team.

She leaned in when, mid-battle, Jaune began to argue with his team about their power attacks. She could see the irritation on the other team's face, and Jaune's, as he explained something they clearly weren't getting.

"What are you doing?!" Brawnz, the enemy leader called out to Jaune.

Jaune turned around, frustrated.

Trying to have a team meeting, thank you very little!" The mint colored onlooker rose an eyebrow from the stands.

"We're in the middle of a fight!" Brawnz looked at his teammates for help.

"And _we're_ in the middle of a conversation! What don't you get about that?!" he shouted back. Emerald couldn't help but laugh. She didn't know The blond student could be so… sassy.

It was clear then that he realized he was still in the middle of the Vital tournament. Resigned, he muttered something to Nora. The redhead smiled much like Cinder had earlier and jumped to hit every member of BRNZ into the field of the arena, knocking them out.

Both teams left the battlefield, either by foot or stretcher, to the back area. Emerald made her way there as well. In the fight, there was no sign of this possible semblance of Jaune's, but he also had minimal interaction with the enemy. Regardless, thanks to Cinder's orders, Emerald had to get closer to Jaune and learn what she could. She made a note to hack into his transcript information later, if Mercury hadn't already done so by the time she returned to the dorm room. He _did_ have his occasional use, after all.

Jaune retracted his shield and sheathing Crocea Mors inside of the folded defense weapon. He sighed.

"That could've gone a _lot_ worse!" Nora cheerfully pointed out behind him. Ren silently agreed.

"I just don't get why you don't like the names I picked." Jaune started.

"Ruby and her team have ones like "bumblebee" and "checkmate."" he explained.

"It's not that we don't like them… we just were confused." Pyrrha tried to be nice, but Jaune already knew she didn't like the name "Arkos."

"You guys never let me do leader stuff." Jaune muttered, walking towards the exit. He wasn't really mad, just a but dissapointed that his team wasn't in-sync like RWBY was.

"Maybe we should do more team exercises." he wondered.

"Well, that's be a little weird, don't ya think?" Jaune turned around to find Emerald looking directly at him.

"You know, since I'm not on your team and all." She finished, giving him a bright, and this time fairly genuine, smile. Her joke lightened his mood.

"In that case, how about a one on one training session?" He tried to lower his voice and lean in like his dad told him to when flirting. Emerald glanced to the side.

"Maybe?" She didn't seem too thrilled at the idea. At least he tried.

"Maybe I can just get you ice-cream again?" He offered. She shook her head, mentioning a funnel cake from earlier.

 _You've failed again._ Jaune thought, his mood sour once more. He still couldn't tell if this girl, with her beautiful red eyes, was interested in him.

After he'd seen her fight, he felt like he knew a little more about her. She was obviously very close to her leader and the Mercury guy. Maybe she knew them from her childhood. He also could tell that she was a bit sloppy, probably from training herself with little help. Jaune thought she was strong before, but her fighting style only adding to his opinion of her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Even with her medium skin tone, he could see a faint blush.

"Oh, sorry, I was, uh, thinking about strategies." He lied, scratching his nodded in understanding.

"Can we take a walk?" She asked, stepping closer. Jaune inward praised himself. Maybe he hadn't done so badly after all. He sent a silent thanks to his father as they began their walk around the grounds.

"You did pretty well out there. I thought the only ending part was kind of funny." She admitted. Jaune wasn't exactly thrilled about her laughing, but I guess he was pretty sarcastic toward Brawnz.

"I mean, I did help take down all those grimm before." Jaune boasted a little shyly. emerald raised an eyebrow.

"I know, I was there, too, Jaune." she commented. Jaune thought for a second, trying to remember if her team was there. He remembered CFVY and Ruby's-

"Oh yeah! I think I saw you guys talking with Ruby after they caught Torchwick." Emerald nodded, giving an uncomfortable laugh.

"Yeah, Ruby."

The two continued around the grounds, Jaune occasionally waving at other Beacon students. He didn't know she was leading him somewhere or if it mattered. She suddenly cleared her throat.

"So… I didn't know Nora had that kind of semblance. It's kind of like that Yang girl's, only more specific."

"Yeah, I never thought about that." Nora did have kinetic energy, but only with electricity, whereas Yang had it with any type if damage. Jaune's began to wonder if he could make a new strategy based on the information.

"Jaune? Hellooo." Emerald was waving her hand in his face, the beads on her wrist and arms clacking together.

"Sorry, I kind of spaced out there."

"It's okay." She said, even though Jaune could sense a bit of irritation.

"I was saying how her semblance was nothing like mine. My semblance is not really useful. I have a really strong empathy type of thing." Emerald knew she was lying, but it wasn't like she could tell him the truth. She hoped he was say how his was similar, if Cinder was on the right track, that is.

"That's pretty cool," he started. "I wish I knew what my semblance was." He chuckled nervously at Emerald's surprised reaction.

"I know, I'm a the leader, I should at least have a semblance, right? I guess nothing has happened that was important enough for me to get it.

"I thought not too long ago I felt something when… well, never mind. I guess I just have to wait. At least, that's what Pyrrha and Ren keep saying."

His red eyed companion played with a ornate ring on her right index finger. She was silent and Jaune felt a little disappointed. He had hoped she wouldn't look down on him for his sitiation, but it was clear she thought it was important.

Emerald's mind was racing. _He hasn't unlocked his semblance?_ If he had some kind of emotional manipulation, he would have to know he had in order to use it.

What could she do now? Would Cinder just accept a shrug and an indefinite answer?

"Of course not!" Emerald shouted, frustrated. She hadn't realized she said it out loud until she looked at Jaune's shocked face.

"I- what?" Emerald blushed, caught in his confused blue eyes. She had no good save for her outburst.

"Th-thinking to myself?" She tried. Jaune said nothing for a minute, then burst out laughing. Emerald pouted, crossing her arms. She felt like he was making fun of her.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" He laughed again. "It was cute." He smiled genuinely. Jaune couldn't help it, he didn't really expect her to do something to embarrassing; something he would do.

"I am _not_ cute." She continued her pout. Jaune chose not to fight her on that, even though she was wrong.

Just then, his scroll began to beep, accompanied by his "It's a Big Ursa!" ringtone. He fumbled with it, apologized to his company before answering.

"Y-yes, Pyrrha?"

"Jaune? Where are you? Yang says she wants to celebrate our win." The redhead warrior paused.

"Please hurry, she's tell her, er, jokes." Jaune immediately understood. He hung up and clenched his fist in determination.

"Emerald, I'm sorry. I have to save my team from cheesy jokes. I shall meet you again, my lady." He bowed and took her hand, kissing it and give her a wink.

Emerald stood speechless even after he left.

"What… just happened?"

* * *

Emerald sat on her bed, leaning against the headboard in her pajamas. She adjusted a fallen strap on her mint colored tank top. She was currently searching through Jaune's transcripts, which she unfortunately had to hack into herself. She glanced up at Mercury, heading out for a run.

"Do you ever do anything besides exercise?" She asked sarcastically. Mercury threw a small towel over his shoulders.

"Do you do anything besides drool over Jaune anymore?" Emerald blushed.

"Cinder ordered me too, thanks to _you._ Don't you remember?" She huffed and stuck out her tongue. Mercury just grumbled and walk out the room.

"My, my, our poor boy seems a bit upset." Cinder spoke in her usual smooth tone from the open bathroom. She was wiping off her makeup at the moment. Emerald shrugged.

"Is he really still upset about earlier?" Cinder laughed at the question.

"Yes, but not for the reason you think." Emerald looked at her, waiting for an explanation. When she didn't get one, she returned her attention back to her scroll.

Something wasn't right, his record was just too… perfect.

According to the file, he comes from a long line of capable fighters. He never trained under another academy, but instead under a renowned huntsman, whose name she didn't recognize.

He had high praise and apparently a very large potential. It all looked like any other student's, aside from the experience.

"This is fake." She realized. She heard Cinder start toward her, curious. The amber eyed girl looked over the page for a moment, muttering an agreement.

"Now how on Remnant did someone like him do something like that?"

"There's no way for me to ask without blowing everything." Emerald knew her mistress was already preparing to give the order. Cinder lied on her stomach.

"Then make him tell you without being obvious. I'm sure he's dying to tell someone. Do you really think his friends know about this?" Emerald thought for a moment.

"Pyrrha Nikos might. I followed him for a bit and found out they had scheduled training sessions. That seems like a good way for them to get close enough." She explained, laughing a little to herself, remembering a little surprise she left Jaune during his 'celebrations'. She hoped Pyrrha was there when he found it.

Meanwhile, Jaune took off his armor , setting it on his bed. He slipped his scroll and wallet from his pockets, dropping the latter.

Before he could get it, Pyrrha grabbed it and gasped. Nora looked up, curious.

"Jaune, I'm sorry, I just didn't know that you were so… close with that girl." Pyrrha spoke tensely, yet still composed. Jaune gave a "Huh?" and took the wallet from his mentor's ungloved hands.

He made a surprised noise in his throat. Where his signed picture of Spruce Willis was proudly displayed, sat a picture of Emerald in her Haven uniform, her tongue sticking out flirtatiously, flashing a peace sign.

Jaune nervously slid the picture out, letting out a sigh of relief that his signature was still there.

"Ooo!" Nora snatched the newest photo from his fingers. "Ooo! That's a cute one!" She shouted.

"When did you get this?" Ren asked, a bit proud of his leader. Jaune panicked, he looked to Pyrrha for help, but she was frowning and shaking her head.

"I don't know! I-I swear I don't know how that got there." He said. _"Though I'm not really complaining…"_ He thought.

"Likely story." Pyrrha mutters, going to the bathroom and slamming the door. Jaune looked at Ren.

"Sorry, can't help." He handed Jaune the photo and went to bed.

* * *

 **So, I know that I skipped the dance, but I am going to write it in. I know that makes it out of order, but this is an AU haha. Besides, with all that goes down in the tournament, I think it'd be a nice break lol.**

 **I know a whole lot didn't happen in this chapter. It was more to progress the romance than anything. The fabulous moves of Jauny boy shall be included! And yes, the dress to. He promised, after all. Also, thank you to X3runner for the wallet idea. Poor Pyrrha XD**


	4. Chapter 4

Emerald leaned back, snickering as her least favorite blonde missed every shot she directed at a cat faunus.

"Her fighting style is sloppy and her partner's is too proper. No matter who moves one, Mercury won't have a problem, especially if it's the Schnee girl." Cinder watched carefully, making contingency plans in her head. Emerald made a sound of agreement.

She noticed a stray thread on her Haven uniform. She started to pick at in boredom. It was important to know the enemy, but she thought it a little unfair that Mercury didn't have to sit through the battle.

Emerald was only there so she could best observe how to use her semblance when the duel rounds occurred, whereas Mercury had already seen how both of his opponents would fight.

Emerald returned her bright red glance to the arena when she heard a small laugh from Cinder. Weiss had just been burnt out of all her aura on the battlefield, literally pushing herself and the Atlas boy into a lava geyser.

At first, Emerald thought her mistress was simply laughing at the girl's injuries, but once the geyser died, she could see the musical boy dusting off his pants. Weiss had failed completely. A vague feeling of disappointment settled over Emerald. For some reason, she wished the heiress had shown more potential.

The whole situation only made Yang fight harder, though, leading to the outcome Cinder had predicted; Team RWBY won the match.

The fair skinned leader stood and straightened her skirt.

"You may leave." Cinder made a face a picked off something small.

"This better not be from that corgi…" she muttered, making Emerald snort.

She got up and prepared herself to look for Jaune. Cinder didn't think, " _He doesn't know anything,"_ was a decent enough answer, so she ordered Emerald to continue her investigation. She wondered what the clumsy boy could be doing right now.

"Why is this so hard for you Pyrrha?!" Ren sighed in exasperation. Pyrrha lowered her head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I've never had to do anything like this before." The fire haired warrior looked to her partner for help, but Jaune was in no mood for helping.

"We've done these same steps for _three practices now!_ I need a water break!" Jaune threw up his hands and tried to walk away from the group only to be stopped by Ren.

"Where do you think you're going? You still need to lose those seven pounds." The pink eyed ninja pointed out. Nora burst out laughing.

"Then I guess to do that! Help Pyrrha with this or we will never have this ready by the dance!" The team leader was fed up with the dragging of his team. They would never synchronize if Pyrrha couldn't get over her two left feet.

He stomped out of the dorm room and made his way to the front of the academy. Thanks to him, JNPR never really got to be the cool team with the great bond. They usually ended up falling apart mid way because of his skills, or rather, lack thereof.

Jaune splashed his face with the fountain water.

"I don't think that will make your wish come true." He turned to see Emerald looking at him amused, head tilted to the side.

"Oh, well, I just thought the fountain gods would really see into my brain that way." He replied sarcastically. Emerald put a hand on her chest and feigned hurt.

"Dang, who stole your last cookie?" She played. Jaune sighed and sat with the water to his back.

"No one did. I shouldn't have snapped at you, I'm just kind of upset at myself right now." The girl nodded and plopped down next to him. He felt the fabric of her Haven blazer brush against his bare arm. He had forgone his armor this time around because of the rehearsal.

"I know how that feels. I've had a lot of times where I wasn't very proud of what I'd done." She admitted.

"B-but it wasn't like anything horrible! I didn't like… steal someone's motorcycle or anything!" Her face was flushed. Jaune chuckled.

"The worst thing I've probably done like that is steal a candy bar. Then again, it turned out I hadn't even stolen it." He put his hand on his chin and thought about if that count.

Emerald laughed out loud then. "You really are as pure as can be, aren't you?" The blonde boy gasped, he'd forgotten that his dad said girls like bad boys.

"A-absolutely not! I've played a few pranks on my sisters." He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest before he realized what he said.

"I mean, I used to." He cleared his throat.

"Not to mention the harsh battles I've been in. I'm a little better at combat then you'd think." Her red eyes studied him. In them he could read the question, " _What aren't you telling me?"_ Maybe he was just being paranoid.

"So, then that makes you regular stud, huh?" She joked. Jaune hid his relief, instead opening his mouth to retort, but she stopped him.

"For some reason, I kind of like the nice guy thing you have going on. I'm just glad you're not as innocent as Ruby."

"I do worry about her sometimes." Jaune commented.

"Right. I do have a question for you though. Promise you'll answer me honestly?" Jaune wasn't sure what she wanted to ask, but he knew that he wanted to know her a little better, and that started with her knowing him. He nodded.

"Have you ever done anything really bad? Like, something that a lot of people would look down on? Something that makes you really just think that maybe you might regret it later?" He looked at her for a long while, but she didn't look at him until the last moment.

He knew that she had some kind of hardship in her life, he could tell just by the way she carried herself, but what exactly did Emerald have to go through?

She waited in a harsh silence. She meant only to get him to admit what was off about his transcripts, but for some reason, looking at him, she couldn't help but let out too much information. She had the urge to let down her guard around him.

It briefly occurred to her that it might be his semblance in action and tried to compose herself.

"I'll tell you, but not here, okay?" He spoke slowly and offered his hand to her. Was he really going to tell her something so secret? The only reason he would want her alone is so no one overheard. If his transcripts were fake, he could be expelled. Her heart beat a little faster, but she didn't take his hand. This was strictly business.

Once outside the gates he spoke.

"If I tell you, then I want you to tell me your own secret, okay? I want to know more about you, Emerald. I want you to trust me just a little."

Her face felt hot. Why did he want information on her? She thought about it as leaves and sticks crunched underfoot. If it was only one thing, it shouldn't be that hard. Mercury and Cinder knew way more about her past than the little stuff.

"Okay."

They stopped in a clearing of trees not too far from the grounds. Jaune looked around with sharp eyes. He'd brought his sword and shield, but he could only do so much if he had to protect Emerald against a grimm attack.

Once he felt no danger, he turned to her. Jaune had only told Pyrrha, and accidentally Cardin, about his transcripts. It was still hard for him to admit, and he wasn't sure he could answer the girl in front of him if she asked anything specific. Even now, he himself wasn't sure how they ended up in his hands.

Emerald stepped closer to him, still a good distance away, but trying to make sure he didn't have to talk loudly. He took a deep breath. He felt it was right to tell her the truth. He had to own up to his mistake.

"I don't really belong at Beacon. The truth is, my transcripts… are fake." Emerald's eyes widened, but she said nothing.

"I've only told one person that," Jaune didn't count Cardin eavesdropping as 'telling'. "I'm telling you now because you asked. I know I shouldn't have submitted them, but I've always wanted to be the hero. I've always wanted to carry on the family tradition." He touched his sword affectionately at his side.

"I don't know why I became the leader of JNPR, that had nothing to do with me. I ask myself why Ozpin chose me almost every day, but that doesn't mean that I stop trying." He explained shakily. He didn't want her to think he was just a cheap weakling who got lucky.

"I know why he picked you. I can see it when you lead your team. You're more capable than you give yourself credit for." She shifted on her feet uncomfortably.

"I usually don't give out compliments, so, uh, yeah." She cleared her throat and looked to the trees.

"So, you feel bad about that?"

"I do," Jaune began, "But I don't regret it. I'm going to be a huntsman. Part of me wishes I could've done it on my own, but I know that did what I had to to make it.

"Everything I've done since I was admitted, I've done on my own. I've become a leader, killed a Ursa Major, gained the respect of my bully, and helped protect Beacon when grimm filled the streets."

"Wow. That's really cool, Jaune. You're not just surviving, you're moving toward a goal with all your might. I wish I could know how that feels." Jaune moved closer to her. If he reached out, he could touch her.

"You don't have to tell me anything. I shouldn't have expected that." The boy said, but Emerald shook her head and looked him in the eye.

"When I was younger, I was poor. I lived in the worst part of Mistral's capital. Once, I stole an entire cart of apples from a man just trying to get by.

"I knew when I tasted them that they were from a forest a ways away. One surrounded by grimm. In the end, I brought the man back his cart and maybe about six apples for him, but the rest, I kept.

"He probably had a family, and I had none. Most of the food I kept was from spite, and because of that, I sometimes wish I had done that, but I would've starved if I hadn't. I couldn't fight well enough to kill grimm."

Jaune didn't know what to say. He knew from his dad some of the stories told about lower class Mistral. It was a place where the black market thrived. It may have even been where his documents came from.

"You did what you had to." He said carefully. "The fact that you still regret it, that means a lot, Emerald. At least, in my eyes." The training huntress seemed genuinely surprised by his words.

Not even Cinder knew how she felt about some of the things she'd done. She killed people for standing in her way, and she didn't always feel bad about it. She couldn't or she would be useless to Cinder and become nothing again.

The fact that Jaune understood that she only did bad things for survival made her feel better. It made her feel normal. Instead of being disgusted by her weakness like Mercury might, Jaune accepted it.

He wasn't ready go hear anything worse than what she'd just told him, but his acceptance made her feel like that could change.

Emerald stopped her racing thoughts.

" _Why do I care about that? Why would I trust an enemy like this?"_ She thought.

"Emerald?" She looked from his outstretched hand to his bright pools of blue. His messy hair to his silly bunny sweater.

Maybe it was all just a semblance, but suddenly she wanted to trust him like she trusted her adopted family. She reached out her own hand slowly, the beads on her forearm tickling her under the uniform.

She was only inches away before she realized what she was doing. Memories of their date flashed through her mind. It was a one time thing, not a reality. She wasn't supposed to actually _like_ him.

"I can't do this. I don't know what's going on." She spoke, her hand still hovering above his.

"I just want to help." Jaune whispered. His heart was racing. He wanted to know why she looked scared, why she seemed so conflicted. This wasn't about wooing her or anything like that anymore. Jaune just wanted to be her hero.

Emerald suddenly took her hand away and shook her head.

"I-I'll see you around!" She shouted, her head aimed down. Before he could speak, she turned on her heel and fast-walked away.

"What?" He was dumbfounded. Had he done something wrong?

Emerald didn't relax until she made it into the library. She put her head in her hands and groaned quietly. Her head hurt and now that she was alone, she felt much better.

There were only a few students dotted around the library, including Blake Belladonna, who was bow-deep in some book about ninjas.

Emerald didn't know where her earlier thoughts had come from. Even now, they haunted her.

 _It's just a mission, but he is really cute._

 _He would only get in my way, but maybe that isn't so bad._

 _Cinder would be furious with me, but she might understand if I like him just a little._

Emerald groaned again and messed up her hair.

"Are you alright, Minty?" A familiar voice chimed. Mercury had spun around a chair and was sitting in it, arms crossed on the backrest.

"I told you not to call me that a million times already." She wasn't in the mood for his banter. He scooted the chair forward. Emerald could probably hit her knee with his if she turned.

"Fine, that's my bad. I just thought you seemed a bit stressed. I thought I might come cheer you up." She rested her cheek in her hand, raising an eyebrow at him. Her legs were crossed between them.

"In that case, shouldn't you leave? You're not very good at making me relax." She grinned, happy to have a normal conversation.

"Em, that is so rude. You know you enjoy my company. I know I enjoy yours." He said dramatically, as if he were genuinely offended. She giggled.

"So, did you find out what you needed? You don't have to follow around that loser any more?" Mercury leaned in again, speaking low. Emerald frowned and shook her head.

"Not yet. Besides, I think you're more of a loser than him." She joked. Mercury was silent for a moment.

"You think so?" He teased. Emerald moved forward and nodded, an evil grin on her face.

At that moment, Mercury grabbed her by the chin and tilted her head up. She could feel his breath on her lips.

"You shouldn't say things like that. A guy's ego is all he has." He had an affectionate,yet teasing glint in his silver-violet eyes. He held her there for a moment before releasing her and standing from his chair.

He gave her a wave while he walked out of the library. Emerald didn't moved, unsure of what just happened.

She looked around her self-consciously only to make eye contact with Blake. The pale girl blushed when their gazes met.

"I wasn't- I just-" Blake stammered. Emerald just held her hand up and went to find a book. She desperately needed a distraction.

Jaune sat Ren's bed. He came back to his room to find all his teammates away, probably in the showers.

His friend returned a moment later, drying his hair with one towel, his waist covered by another.

"Oh! Jaune, is everything okay?" He asked in his somewhat monotone voice. Jaune looked up at him with a frown.

"I need help." He whined. Ren sighed and sat on the bed.

"I suppose I won't be able to get dressed until I give you that?" Jaune nodded, pouting and giving the puppy eyes. Ren briefly thought he learned he trick from Zwei.

"I just don't understand women. One moment they're all joking and adorable, and the next they're all over the place and walking away suddenly." The knight threw up his hands.

"It's like, why won't you let me help you or hug you or- grrr!" Ren leaned back a bit. Jaune was clearly frustrated.

"Is this about who I think it is?" Jaune sighed and nodded.

"I just don't get it. I thought we were getting close and then she just left." Ren thought about his friend's problem.

"Maybe she just isn't used to people? If you think about it, she really only seems to be around those two other students. Perhaps she didn't know what to do?"

"You really are perceptive. I guess that could make sense." Jaune brightened.

"Yeah, I just have to keep it up until she's ready to accept me as a friend." He stood and starting gathering shower supplies.

"By the way, Jaune, do you still have that photo in your wallet?"

"Wha-?!" Jaune dropped his shampoo and stumbled. Ren laughed softly.

"Everything is normal. Everything is normal." Emerald repeated quietly to herself, still shaken up by the day's events. She held firmly to the book her hand. When her mantra wasn't enough, she went through the plan for the dance in a few days over and over until she could recite Cinder's words by heart.

"Everything is- oof!" She was so busy studied the carpet as she walked that she didn't notice the person in front of her.

"It's fine, I wasn't- Emerald?" She slowly looked up right into Jaune's bright blue eyes. He had his arms on her shoulders to steady her.

She tried not to pay attention to the fact that there was a shampoo bottle by her foot or that he only had on a towel. His hair was still dripping.

"Sweet mother of grimm." Was all she could say. Her face was burning. The boy just looked confused.

"You're not, um, clothed?" She never broke eye contact. It was Jaune turn to get flustered then. He quickly let go of her and stepped back. Emerald picked up the shampoo, staring only at his blue bunny slippers. She held out the bottle.

"What are you doing in this dorm? I thought yours was on the other side?" His voice cracked slightly as he grabbed the bottle from her, brushing her fingers lightly.

She squeaked at the contact.

"I g-got lost. Shouldn't you be _wearing something?"_ She asked.

"Well, my room isn't very far from here. It isn't usually an issue. Besides, most girls ignore me either way." He laughed nervously. Emerald snuck a glance at his bare chest.

"Right, I guess. I, uh, have to go." She tried to rush passed him, but he grabbed her arm. Since her blazer was tied to her waist, she felt the warmth of his hand on her bare skin. She suddenly wished she had longer sleeves, but at the same time didn't.

"Emerald, I'm really sorry about today. I shouldn't have pushed you." She looked at him, remembering how she'd run away.

"Please, don't worry about it." She said softly. He looked so worried and upset, she couldn't help but want to forgive him.

"I'm okay, Jaune. I promise." He smiled and sighed.

"Good." He released her and started back down the hall. Emerald relaxed, touching the spot where his hand had been. She watched him until she realized it was his bare back she was staring at, and slightly admiring.

"Ugh!" She growled then angrily made her way to her room, not even caring if Mercury was there anymore. She really hated guys sometimes.

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter took so long! I ended up adding to my other story. I really like this one, but I didn't want to forget about my first story.**

 **So, I know that I had a little Mercury fan service in there, but it just seems like what he would do if he were jealous, you know? Total territorial type haha. I was going to get to the dance in this one, but I thought Emzies and Jauney needed some alone time to bond.**

 **I feel kind of bad tormenting Emerald with all these feelings but it'll be good for her in the end, let's be honest. :3 I tried to make this one a tad longer for you guys to hold you until the next one. I will be changing jobs soon and hopefully moving to a new apartment, so if I slow down in the next few chapters you know why.**


	5. Chapter 5

Emerald groaned as the girls around her excitedly looked at dresses. She'd been unlucky enough to get invited by team RWBY and the JNPR girls for dance shopping. There was another very pretty redhead standing next to Ruby. Evidently, she was from Atlas. It was mostly this girl's fault that Emerald was sitting on the ottoman she currently inhabited. Cinder thought she may be a point of interest.

"Penny, this would look perfect on you!" Ruby exclaimed. She held up a tan a-line dress made to look like the wearer had on a white collared shirt sleeve shirt underneath. The black belt in the middle offset all the light colors to give it a bit I'd style.

"Oh my, Ruby. It is just my style. I am so glad that my friend knows me so well." The old-fashioned girl grinned wide. Ruby laughed and led her towards the dressing room. Emerald sighed. These people were way too happy all the time.

Blake sat down on the chair next to the dark-skinned huntress.

"This is so dumb." She said quietly. Emerald snorted in agreement.

"Oh, come on you lazy bones!" Yang had an armful of hangers. She stopped and placed a hand on her waist.

"As one of the organizers of this grand event, I refuse to let you sit around and end up in some ugly dress. Let's live it up ladies!" She grabbed Emerald and pulled her to her feet, dragging her along the same route Ruby had taken Penny on earlier.

"Why not Blake first?" She complained.

"That's because you, Missy, seem to have quite the suitors." Emerald blushed. No doubt Blake had blabbed about the incident in the library.

"Mercury is _not_ a suitor. He's like my brother." Emerald reluctantly grabbed a few garments from Yang's outstretched arm. The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Somehow, I don't think he knows that. He clearly has some weird macho man thing going on around you." Emerald tossed her white Capri pants and olive green sweater over the door. She eyeballed the strapless yellow dress.

"I'm just saying, Em, I personally think you and our dorky little Jaune have better chemistry." Yang said in a nonchalant tone. She got closer on the other side and lowered her voice.

"Not to mention seeing him all freshly showered, eh? He isn't my type, but you gotta admit, he's not half bad there." Emerald nearly tripped on the dress hem. She zipped up the back shakily.

"How do you even know about that?" She could feel her face flush at the memory. Yang laughed.

"My room isn't very far from his, I pretty much saw the ending of it." Emerald opened the door and pulled in the blonde.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't know what's going on." Yang eyed her from head to toe.

"Well, I know that that wasn't the best choice for you. I think we should keep you in greens."

"Wha-? No, I mean, with Jaune. Cinder wouldn't really get this if I asked, but I feel like you might." This was partially an insult towards the well endowed blonde's attitude toward the male gender. Luckily though, she didn't notice. Emerald took a deep breath.

"I keep getting really… weird around him. Like, I act totally different. Kind of like now. I pretty much keep to myself, but for some reason I can't around Jaune. Is that normal?" Yang took a moment to ponder this. Emerald hoped that his friends might give her a clue on his whole semblance issue. That was all she wanted to know for, nothing else.

"Yeah," Yang shrugged. "That can happen if a girl likes someone. I think you just trust him and his personality just tends to make others feel comfortable.

"I know I always get a little more confident around him, and I'd say Ruby does too. He really can make everyone fight just a little harder when it comes to it. You probably get affected differently since you to have spark." Emerald could now see the more mature, older sister side of her. It was embarrassing to hear, but it got the wheels turning. What if his semblance could boost his allies, too?

"Anyway, let's get you something to wow anyone, yeah? This dance needs to start off with a Yang!" She elbowed Emerald playfully.

"The only thing we'll be breaking tomorrow night is dance, am I right?" She continued. Her puns were only going to keep coming, so Yang was firmly pushed from the dressing room.

"Just give me the next one!" She huffed. Not noticing a downtrodden Pyrrha looking at a crimson sleeves dress.

"I've seen Jaune out of the shower plenty of times." She grumbled.

"But even I don't get a spot in his wallet." A clothes rack across the store bent in ever so slightly as Pyrrha continued her hushed comments.

A boy made a very unmanly noise by the bent rack. He lowered his head and picked out a puffy white gown, hoping he would never have a use for it. He touched the purple ribbon along the waist.

"I may have made a mistake." He said quietly, sneaking to the counter.

* * *

Emerald ended up deciding on a simple dress that matched the color of her sweater. She didn't need anything fancy, after all, she was pretty much only there to be Cinder's look out.

After asking around, it seemed that most team members agreed that they all valued Jaune in a battle, saying that he somehow made them all feel more capable.

She wasn't sure if this was true for Pyrrha Nikos, as the celebrity refused to talk to her much, only do so out politeness. This made Emerald laugh, knowing then and there that her little prank was found. She briefly wondered if Jaune still had the photo before deciding firmly that she didn't care.

Upon returning to her room, she gave Cinder a brief report, leaving out the advice she'd gotten from Yang about her feelings. It was only a little school crush fueled by Jaune's semblance and nothing more.

Her mistress praised her and complimented the dress before showing off her own. Emerald whistled. The gown was a very sexy glittering black with a slit at the thigh and dust woven into a feather like design. The back was low cut, meant to show off the little tattoo between her shoulder blades. The whole look was completed with a pair of long black gloves and heels.

"I thought we weren't supposed to draw attention to ourselves?" Emerald joked. Cinder pouted.

"I know, but Salem never holds any events. Besides, I think I'm being fairly nice, letting all these little school boys admire me before I ruin their precious festival." It was fairly good logic, so Emerald didn't press any further.

"At any rate, I need to go freshen up, and I don't have any idea how long our little ball of moody is going to occupy our personal restroom, so I'm going to shower elsewhere." Cinder shot a look of irritation toward the closed door.

"Moody?" Emerald wondered. Cinder sighed and flipped her hair.

"He's been all irritated one moment, then happy the next. It's really getting on my nerves. I hope he isn't getting jealous of the mission I assigned you. As if you're actually enjoying that fake student's company." Emerald chuckled nervously.

"Exactly, that was a one time thing. I'd never date someone and risk the grand scheme, let alone some wannabe hero." She said, not feeling entirely good about the insult.

"Exactly." Cinder smiled and sauntered out towards the showers.

"I'll be back later." She called from the hallway. Emerald huffed and fell onto her bed, opening the book she'd borrowed. She wasn't looking forward to seeing Mercury if what Cinder said was true, not to mention the weird thing from the other day. Hopefully he wouldn't say anything to her and just forget about it.

Emerald had made it a few chapters in when he finally emerged, bring the scent of soap into the small dorm.

"Oh, you're here I see. Cinder give you the night off?" So far, so normal.

"I guess so. I'm just glad I can get away from the Sunshine Brigade." She kept her eyes on her book.

"It's not fair you never have to go on these kind of missions, Mercury." She teased.

She felt a weight on her bed.

"I guess so, I think all those girls would tell me way easier. I mean, look at me." He said, in his usual confident tone. She did, to find him giving her a side grin and completely shirtless. He had on long, blue-grey pajama bottoms, but just that.

"Jeez Merc! What are you doing?" She held the book in front of her eyes. Was this some kind of weird coincidence?

"Aw, are you blushing, Minty? You've seen me shirtless before." He laughed, loud and teasing.

"Y-yeah, in training sure, but not just out of the blue like this!" He usually didn't play with her like this, not in such an intimate way. It made her feel weird.

"What's the problem?" He pulled down the book and smiled softly.

"You think of me as family, right? So, it shouldn't be weird." Emerald looked at the ceiling.

"I guess, but like, I _know_ you aren't, you know? And you're all close and not fully clothed. Especially after the library and-."

"Emerald, calm down." He chuckled.

"Relax, I just wanted to chill out for a second. I'll put something on in a second." He smiled at her pouting face.

"You're so cute when you get like this. I rarely get to see this side of you, Em." He laid a hand on her cheek. She said nothing.

"I'm glad you don't see me as a brother." He lifted her hand from the book and kissed her palm, before getting up and grabbing a t-shirt from the dresser.

Mercury sat back on her bed and opened his scroll. Emerald went back to her book, noticing how different his touch was from Jaune's. It lingered, but not in nearly the same way.

* * *

Emerald shifted in her dress. The dance floor was covered in fog and various moving lights. People and faunus from every kingdom mingled with one another. Even Mercury was off flirting with a brunette rabbit faunus by the punch bowl. Emerald rolled her eyes, making note of faces. Penny was currently in the corner dancing alone next to her strict looking teammate.

Blake was walking in with a monkey faunus on her elbow, followed by Pyrrha, alone, and later Ren and Nora. Yang was a doorman, so she wasn't a worry. It was only Ruby and her wandering eyes.

"Relax, my dear. I will let you know when to keep an eye out. For now, enjoy yourself." Cinder had come behind her and placed a gloved hand on her bare shoulder.

"I guess I could try. This isn't really my thing though." Emerald was going to suggested staying by Cinder, but before she could speak, her mistress raised a hand.

"Be a sourpuss all you want, Em, I'm going to enjoy myself a little." Emerald frowned as she walked away.

Mercury was now dancing with the faunus, which meant Emerald was alone. She sighed and went up the stairs, meaning to head outside, but was stopped by a familiar voice.

"That's why I like about you, Jaune." Emerald had behind a pillar, trying to look natural in case another student passed by.

"You're the kind of guy I wish I was here with; someone who just saw me for me." Pyrrha said, sounding dejected.

"Hey, wait!" Emerald her Jaune call out, followed by Pyrrha rushing through the door and back to the dance floor.

Emerald stood there for a second, a small pang in chest, waiting to see if he would follow, but he didn't.

Jaune looked over the balcony, unsure of what to do. Pyrrha was his partner, his friend. He wanted to help her. It dawned on him suddenly what he had to do.

He turned around, determined, only to meet red eyes. Emerald had her hands behind her back, wearing a floor length, olive green sleeveless dress. It was simple but looked perfect on her.

"Hi, Jaune." A breeze blew, making the fabric at her legs dance. She shivered ever so slightly.

"O-oh, uh, hi! Are you cold?" He stepped forward, but stopped himself, not wanting her to walk away like last time. She shrugged.

"It's kind of boring in there. A little cold is no big deal." She stepped up next to him, leaning on the railing.

"So, how is Pyrrha? She looked pretty upset. You didn't break her heart, did you?" She joked.

Jaune leaned next her, his back to the open air, his elbow next to hands.

"It's not like that. I don't think she sees me that way, and I donated her like that. She's my partner, the first person I saw in initiation. Unless you count Weiss, that is."

Emerald nodded, smiling a little to herself. She looked up at him.

"Do you see anyone like that?" He tilted his head to look at her through his bangs, surprised by the question.

"Well, uh, it's not that I _don't…"_ He started. She giggled.

"That's okay, you don't have to answer." Another breeze brought another shiver for her. Jaune pushed off the rail and removed his suit jacket, placing it around her shoulders.

"It's no limited edition Pumpkin Pete jacket, but it should work." She placed a hand on it and opened her mouth to object but he stopped her.

"No way. I am a gentleman, so you keep it. Besides, I won't be needing it…" Jaune trailed off. She looked at him quizzically, red eyes shining.

"I apologize, but I have to excuse myself, my lady." He lifted her hand in his and kissed the back of it, thumbing the beads on her wrist.

"Where are you going?" Emerald asked softly.

"I have a promise to keep. You'll see what I mean." He knew he sounded less than enthusiastic, but he tried to keep up the gentleman tone.

"Farewell, then, my knight. I shall borrow this token of appreciation." She gave a playful smile and bowed her head. Jaune didn't mention the fuzzy feelings he got from ' _my knight'._ He hurried off the get changed _._

Emerald watched him go, wondering what this mystery promise was. She pushed her arms through the comfy fabric he'd given her. It smelled like leaves and the night.

She wondered if he really spent every night training with Pyrrha. She'd only followed him to the roof once, but it seemed like a regular thing they did together.

Not wanting to go back inside, she awaited Cinder's signal on the balcony. The occasional wind blew the longer parts of her hair around, tickling her neck. It was peaceful, even with the thumps of the music in the background.

The intercom in Emerald's ear gave off some static before she heard a tinkling laugh.

"We have our distraction. Dear, you might want to see this." Cinder said. The green haired girl raised an eyebrow and went towards the main upstairs railing inside. She found Mercury, trying to hold in laughter. When she asked about it, he pointed to the dance floor.

Standing dead center in a circle if students was none other than Jaune Arc, in a strapless puffy white gown.

"At least he isn't wearing heels." She muttered. She saw him grab Pyrrha's hand and start some impressive dance routine, joined by the rest of his team.

"Where did you get the jacket?" Once Mercury realized the object of his amusement actually had some decent dance skills, he got over the joke. He wore a teasing grin.

"No one. I, uh, took it from the coat rack?" She shrugged,knowing the lie wasn't very convincing. If she told the truth, he might act strange again. Not to mention,Emerald sort of liked the idea of sharing a secret with Jaune.

"You two, is everyone still present?" The leader sounded tense, alert. Emerald had completely forgotten the mission. She scanned the room carefully, looking passed the miniature flash mob to the corners.

"Little Rose is gone." Mercury stated.

"Be on your guard, Cinder." His tone was so unlike him, Emerald might've been shocked if she hadn't been in tough situations with him before.

He brought his sharp eyes to Emerald's.

"We need to look for her. We both got distracted." She nodded in response and the split up at his signal.

The noisy kid was nowhere to be found.

Emerald squeaked when an angry voice filled her ear.

"You absolute idiots! She almost found me. I fought her off easily, but you two were supposed to make sure no one looked my direction." Emerald felt like if she were a puppy, her ears would lowered in shame. She had failed Cinder and endangered everything.

"She's furious with us." The girl squeaked again, not noticing Mercury's approach. He gave a small laugh.

"That's way too cute to be coming out of your mouth, Minty." Emerald growled and stuck out her tongue.

"Stop calling me that. I blame you, with all your flirting." Mercury leaned against a large tree. Lifting his hands nonchalantly.

"What can I say, the ladies love me."

"Whatever." The silver boy pushed off of the bark, coming within touching distance of his teammate.

"Are you jealous?" He asked in a low tone. Emerald scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Absolutely not. No thank you. If they want to drool on your circuits, that's their problem." Mercury placed his hand over his heart.

"Emerald, you know I'm sensitive." She rolled her eyes, knowing he wasn't serious. He took a step closer.

"You know, you could be at least a little jealous." He practically whispered the sentence, touching the hair that gel passed her chest.

Emerald had had enough.

Jaune, now in a regular t-shirt and jeans, was wandering around the grounds. After a little time spent with Pyrrha, he noticed a certain person was nowhere to be seen, even where he'd left her. He just hoped nothing bad had happened to make her leave.

Just then, Jaune's ears perked to the sound of voices. He moved closer, now able to recognize Emerald's low toned voice. In a panic, he hid behind a pillar.

When he peeked around the corner, he saw that Mercury had her hand in his, an intimate look on his face. He could make out her expression.

"Mercury-!"

"Just listen to me, please?"

"No," She stepped back.

"This is weird. I'm not… I don't see you that way. You keep doing this and you never acted like this before." Her voice was shaking. Jaune felt a wave of protective anger rise within him. Mercury made a noise of disbelief.

"I always flirt with you! The only reason I have to push harder now is because of the idiot nice guy you have eyes for!"

"What does he have to do with this?!" Jaune heart beat loudly in the silence.

"You care about him,that's what. You can't be with him, but us, we can. I know you and I love everything about you.

Do you think he would-?"

"Shut up!" Emerald shouted to interrupt him.

"There isn't anything wrong with me. _Cinder_ knows me. I care about her more than anything. I care about you like family." Jaune felt wrong for listening. He wanted nothing more than to run to her.

"Mercury, please don't do this. I don't want to be alone again. Don't change things. I'm happy with how things are. Jaune doesn't change that, he just helps me feel even less alone. If you care about me, you should just be okay with that."

She started walking away the moment the last words left her lips, right passed Jaune, his the only thing accompanying her.

Emerald stared at the broken moon that watched over Remnant. Though the sky was clear, she felt a fog falling over her. She was feeling things she never thought she'd be allowed to feel. Things Cinder wouldn't like.

Emerald was always told that she had to avoid certain emotions, and before Beacon, it wasn't hard to. She didn't know how to handle Mercury's confession or her growing feelings for Jaune.

Did she feel anything like Mercury did? Or did she only want to be as close with Jaune and she is with her partner?

She growled in frustration, pulling one her weapons from the holster on her thigh and shooting the life out of the tree in front of her.

"I, too, enjoy destroying thing when I'm upset." Emerald started at the voice, nearly pulling her trigger at the figure. She locked with vibrant purple eyes.

"Yang? What are _you_ doing here?" Yang blew a stray hair from her face.

"A little birdie told me something might be up with you. Now, I don't know about you, but it bothers me when my friends are upset." The blonde girl smiled softly, then went to inspect the tree Emerald had just mutilated.

Emerald watched as one of the bracelets on the girl's wrist changed into her signature weapon and punched the bark. The tree gave easily and fell forward, flinging dirt and dust everywhere.

Yang sat on the remolded flora and patted the spot next to her.

"Come on, talk to Mama Yang."

"I don't know…" Yang was probably the last person she would've asked for help.

"I won't no for an answer, you know."

Emerald groaned, but complied, putting away her weapon. Yang waited patiently for her to start, humming to fill the silence.

"Um, well I guess I'm confused?" She started slowly. Yang only nodded. Emerald cleared her throat.

The moment she breached the surface regarding Mercury, she couldn't stop. It wasn't so much that felt she could trust Yang so easily, but rather that her mouth just wouldn't stop.

Emerald huffed, surprised to have said so much in front of her enemy. The blonde listened intently, even stopping her hums.

"So, what I'm getting here is that the type of attention he's giving you is not normal and it makes you feel uncomfortable. Kind of like you're being forced to think about him differently, right? But you just don't like the guy that way, so it's hard." She gave several 'mmhmm', noises once she finished, as if reassuring herself it was right,which surprisingly it was. Emerald leaned forward.

"How on Remnant did you even get all of that? I've been trying to figure it out for days and you just know? Not fair."

Yang gave a big thumbs up.

"Big sister skills. What good am I if I can't help my baby sister when she's in trouble? And if I can do it for her, I can do it for you. Is there anything else?"

Emerald had to admit, the fist fighter was more perceptive than Cinder gave her credit for.

"Well, there's Jaune, too." The purple irises next to her sparkled.

"What about him?"

"He's just so sweet and trustworthy, all dependable and dorky… I never really thought that was type." She worded carefully, not giving any hints to why she never considered his type.

"I find myself kind of enjoying his company and pretty much just feeling way more open around him, kind of like I told you at the dress shop.

"But sometimes I don't, like when I think of how close he is to Pyrrha and how she is obviously over the moon for him. That makes me kind of irritated and I just want to tease Pyrrha. I don't know why I'm feeling like this. It can't be that I like Jaune that way, right?"

Emerald held her breath, unconsciously playing with a button on the blazer she borrowed.

The older sister suddenly burst into laughter. She toppled off of the tree trunk, holding her stomach.

"Hey, what's so funny?!" The minty minion stood, stomping her foot childishly. Yang wiped a tear.

"You haven't been able to be much of a girl, have you? You _totally_ like-like Jaune! I knew you snuck in that picture in his wallet, and it was all to mess with Pyrrha, wasn't it? That's amazing, Em! Hilarious!"

Emerald's cheek became a dark rosy color at the praise and the admission.

Yang got up, ignoring the leaves stuck in her wildfire hair. She had a large grin stuck to her face.

"I'm so happy for little Jaune. I never thought he would land a cutie like you." She hugged an uncomfortable Emerald, then spoke into her ear softly.

"But seriously, you can't force yourself to change how you feel about Mercury. You will have to work that out with him no matter what. He's your partner and if he really loves you like her says, he should accept that.

"I know you don't really want to accept that you have feelings for Jaune, but it's clear you do. Just let things happen if you're not ready. It'll all fall into place."

"Big sister's intuition?"

"Oh yeah."

Yang tightened her grip for a moment before letting go of the other girl. The whole scene made Emerald's heart ache. She wanted to be able to talk with Cinder this way, but knew her leader would only punish her for making the mistake of wanting a relationship with an outsider.

She split up from Yang, feeling ready to face Cinder's anger, as well as Mercury's heart. Now that she had her own heart worked out, she could put her full focus into the fall of Beacon.

* * *

 **I made this chapter a little longer this time! I wanted to do more, but it would've ended up feeling forced and I didn't want that, so I'll wait for the next chapter.**

 **I spent these last two focusing on development, but I promise wheels start turning next chapter and I will start to deviate from Canon really soon. Since I have a general plan, it shouldn't take me too long to write the next one, it really just depends on life and mother story haha.**

 **I was too tired to edit this one, so there are probably extra errors x.x**

 **Thank you all for reading and everything. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

When Emerald arrived at her room, Cinder was ripping Mercury a new one.

"You both are lucky I got the information needed to change the tournaments pairs."

Cinder whipped around on the newest visitor. She sighed, clearly irritated with the yelling herself.

"Emerald, I expected more vigilance from you." Mercury scoffed and turned away from the girls. Emerald shifted on her feet. Cinder strode forward and plucked at the suit jacket on her minion. She scrunched her nose.

"I won't even ask, but I do hope this wasn't the reason for your failure." Cinder gave a look to silence any defense, her molten lava gaze lingered with Emerald's.

The leader pulled out the desk chair and placed her bare feet on it, standing proudly in her stealth outfit.

"Now that punishment time is over- and how valiantly you withstood it Mercury- I have some fabulous news that will allow my nefarious plans to proceed." Emerald awkwardly plopped down into the bed with Mercury, listening. He huffed beside her.

"My dear friends, Penny Polendina is not human." Cinder held up blueprints in her gloved hand.

"Remember, please, that our friend Pyrrha Nikos has a lovely ability if polarity. Thank you again, Mercury, for fulfilling your duty. I think you can tell where I'm going with this."

"She is a necessary sacrifice." Mercury said nonchalantly. Emerald saw him laying on the bed, looking at her from behind his lashes. Cinder gave a wicked grin.

"Precisely. That is where you come in, Emerald. Scare Pyrrha into killing Penny however you have to. Atlas wants to act as if they stand a chance, so we will do anything possible to put them in their place."

Emerald nodded solemnly. Penny was a farce, a weapon in disguise. There should be no reason for her to exist.

Emerald accepted the task, then went to the private restroom to change and freshen up. She looked to her reflection.

"Why do I feel like I shouldn't do this?" She asked herself. The huntress searched her own ruby red eyes, hoping for an answer.

She started the shower, filling the room with a soft steam in no time. Hanging Jaune's blazer on the door and dropping her own ground to the cool tile.

Killing had stopped being hard, so why was her stomach tightening at the thought of taking Penny's artificial life? Furthermore, she was starting to dread what she was ordered to do to Yang.

She submerged her face in the flowing hot water, confused.

She returned his suit jacket the next day, giving him a quick thanks before darting off. He sighed.

"I guess she hates me again. Ren, why are women so complicated?" Jaune fell onto his bed, letting the blazer fall over his face. It smelled sweet, like the flowers in mother's garden. There was a hint of evergreen mixed in.

"Jaune, you said so yourself, she was arguing with her teammate. I'm sure that's all it is." Ren responded, keeping his eyes on his textbook.

"Freaking Yang wouldn't tell me anything." Jaune moved the clothing from his face and made a mocking voice.

"'It was girl talk, you not allowed to know.' Not fair considering _I_ asked her to go find Emerald." Jaune blew a lock of golden hair from his face.

"You should've expected that." The blonde hunter flew up, aggravated that his friend wasn't on his side.

"Shouldn't you be making sure Nora doesn't burn down any classrooms?" He grumbled. Ren shrugged.

"She said something about making a beowolf bow down to her, so I'm sure it's fine for now." Jaune decided not to comment.

Instead, the boy stood and went to put on street clothes. Ren watched curiously as he got ready.

"What are you getting so dressed up for?" Ren asked as Jaune was adjusting Crocea Mors.

"Huh? Oh, I'm getting her a present. My sister said she liked my gift, so I think I have quite the talent." He boasted, ignoring Ren's sympathetic gaze.

"The reason I'm dressed so well," he continued. "Is for when I present it to her. Do you think I should grab my guitar on the way back?"

"Maybe not this time." Jaune pouted at this, but brushed it off. He hurried to catch the next airship to Vale.

Jaune was stuck between a topaz pair of earrings and a Mistral imported necklace, the chain woven intricately to match the charm, lined with rose quartz and centered with a fine pearl.

"Jaune?" He jumped at the proper voice of Pyrrha behind him.

"P-Pyrrha! What are you doing here?!" She giggled at his startled reaction.

"I get my headpiece shined here. How about you?" Jaune looked to her forehead. She wasn't wearing her crown after all. She hand her hands behind her back, awaiting his explanation.

"I'm buying a gift, but I can't decide." Pyrrha let out a soft 'oh'.

"I'm sorry to intrude then! Is it for Bleue?"

"N-not exactly. But, Pyrrha, since you're here and a girl, maybe you can help me decide!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to the glass case.

"I'm not sure if this one is too fancy." He pointed to the necklace. Pyrrha looked at the options.

"What is the recipient like?" Jaune thought about it.

"Well she's strong and has the most striking eyes. She can be nice around others, but she sometimes let's me see that there's more to her. She seems like kind of an outcast, but at the same time can really blend in with people. Sometimes she can say some pretty aggressive things, but it only adds to her charm."

Pyrrha was listening intently, now leaning closer to Jaune.

"I'd want that one. I mean, if it were me. I can, um, see myself in her shoes kind of." Her face was quickly starting to match her hair. She had her finger directed at the earrings.

"The way she sounds, something so fancy might not be her style. Those earrings have just the right balance." Pyrrha coughed and regained composure. Jaune thought that made sense.

"However, Jaune, aren't these a little expensive?" He scratched his head. He didn't want to mention that his dad had sent some extra lien the moment he heard that a girl was interested in his son.

"I haven't gotten much lately, so it's fine. It's not like I have much to spend it on." He laughed nervously. She nodded in understanding.

Jaune went back to beacon alone since Pyrrha had some other errands to run, which was fine with him. He wasn't sure how to shake her off so he could give Emerald his gift.

As he walked the grounds, he eyed the violet ribbon tied around the box. The shopkeeper was happy the dress up the gift.

He'd gone to most of the popular spots when he was about to give up hope. Luckily, he spotted Mercury. Awkwardly he placed the box in his pocket.

"Hey, uh, Mercury." He called. The silver Haven student lowered the water bottle he was drinking from.

"What do you want, pipsqueak?" " _Just my luck, he hates me, too."_ Jaune thought. All he needed was to know where Emerald was.

"Look, I don't know what you're deal is, but I just want to know where Em might be." Mercury had no chance, Cardin was way more of a jerk.

Mercury eyed him before deciding on something.

"She was heading to the library last I saw her. I just want you to know, you don't know her. If you did, you probably wouldn't even bother. Remember that she isn't from Beacon, she's from a harsher world." Jaune stood taller.

"I know where she's from. It doesn't matter. What she chooses now does. I'm not so shallow to judge someone on their origin. She did what she had to, just like she does now." Jaune saw the boy's eyes widen before he walked off.

Emerald stretched out in the uncomfortable chair provided by Beacon's finest. She was flipping through a tactics book when her eyes started to cross.

She turned in the chair to scowl at the uncomfortable Haven blazer hung behind her. Whose idea was it to use such itchy fabric anyway?

Pouting, the red eyed huntress turned back to her book and squeaked. Jaune was pulling out the chair in front of her. He had a bashful look on his face.

"Hey, Emerald. What are you reading there?" His voice sounded a bit forced. She avoided his gaze, Yang's admission echoing her mind. She held up the book.

"' _Tactics of a Good Huntsmen'_ by William Arc. Hey! That's my dad!" Jaune moved to sit beside her, excitedly scanning the page she was on. His arm brushed hers and she felt herself tense.

" _I do not like him like that. I do not-."_ She thought, trying to come up with a response.

"I didn't even look at the author, how funny." She genuinely hadn't, instead just picking it up based on title. She hoped he didn't think anything weird by it.

He just smiled, flipping trough the pages. Emerald looked around awkwardly, almost locking eyes with Blake. Her golden eyes flashed back to book she held, so fast that her bow looked like it had twitched.

"Wow, I didn't know my dad wrote this. I guess he was always keeping me away from anything huntsman related, but whatever." Jaune was still flipping the pages, partially muttering to himself.

"Why didn't they want you to follow your dream? A big family like that, you'd think they'd be really supportive of that." Emerald commented, a small pain of longing in her chest. Jaune leaned back in his chair, blowing his bangs upward in a huff.

"I'm the only son, and 'we don't want to force it on you', 'we want you to carry on the family', etcetera, etcetera." Emerald laughed at his bad boy attitude.

"But look at you, Jaune Arc, rebel of the century. You not only denied you parents, but your seven sisters as well!" She smiled teasingly.

"You're beating my track record, Arc." He gave a half grin at her joke.

"I don't know if you could say that, I do want to carry on the Arc name just as much as they do. The difference is that I want more than that, too. I want my family to be proud of me and depend on me, but I can't do that if I can't even kill the smallest death stalker."

Emerald blushed at his statement. She shifted in her chair next to him.

" _He never said he wanted to carry on his name with you, idiot! Why are you freaking out?!"_ She scolded herself internally until Jaune spokesperson again.

"By the way, I got you something." He pulled a small box from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of her. She admired the delicate bow wrapped around it.

"What for?"

"I don't want you to be mad at me, Emerald."

"Who told you I was mad?" She lifted the ribbon to untie the bow. Jaune scratched his head.

"When you came by before, you ignored me." Emerald stopped for a second, realizing what he meant.

"I was just in a rush." She murmured, lifting the lid of the box. She definitely couldn't explain that Yang gave her weird thoughts.

Jaune watched as her breath caught. It was a pair of topaz earrings, simple, but beautiful. She lifted them to get a better look.

Emerald had jewelry, yes, but she wasn't obsessed about it. She only took the ring all that time ago because she liked it, not because of what it was. She liked these, too. She smiled a little at the yellow color, matching Jaune's name.

He said nothing while she brushed aside her bright green hair and slipped them into the piercing holes she'd gotten from Cinder. Earlier in their relationship, the leader had a soft moment where she wanted to spoil her friend.

"So, uh, do you like them? There was a necklace there, but it didn't seem to suit you." His face was pink with embarrassing. Emerald surprised him by putting her arms around him. She didn't look at him, and she barely heard her when she thanked him.

She pulled away and even scooted her chair further from him. Jaune figured she felt his heart pounding.

"I guess I'll leave you alone then. I'm glad you're not upset with me. It really bothered me to think you were." Emerald way had as he left, touching the stones hanging from her ears.

When she glanced over, she again met eyes that matched them.

Cinder sat with bored eyes in the stands of the arena, her trusted Minty beside her. The battle between Mercury and the blonde bimbo of RWBY was about to begin, but it wasn't the battle she wanted to watch, but the sweet, sweet ending.

She held her scroll, already in control of the station cameras. She needed to make sure everyone saw what was about to happen.

"Are you ready, Emerald, darling?" She said, not looking up from the scroll. Emerald perked up, her hand flying from the new earrings she wore.

"Huh? What? Yes, I am, my lady." Cinder giggled and moved her attention to the huntress. She lifted a long but of Emerald's hair and played with it.

"You are just too adorable, you know? Did your little white knight give you those?" The girl's face matched her eyes then. She nodded. Cinder laughed.

"How gullible. If he only knew how beautifully corrupt you were. Just remember to pay attention. We can't afford a mistake here." She sharpened her tone at the end. Emerald nodded once more.

The arena opened then and the professors hosting began to introduce the opponents.

"Let the games begin."

Emerald shivered at her mistress' words. She was excited for the moment when Emerald was supposed to bring negativity to Beacon.

Her red gaze moved to the field. The fight had started, and Yang was holding her own. Emerald's heart suddenly sped up. She was about to ruin Yang's entire reputation for a long while.

She had to use her semblance to make the Yang a public menace, a cold-hearted fighter, and when she thought about it, a part of her didn't want to do it.

Emerald had never had an issue hurting people for Cinder, and for the most part, she still didn't. But as she watched Mercury get hit after hit on the girl, she could only remember the night after the dance, the dress shopping, and all the other times Yang treated her as an equal, a friend.

" _What's wrong with me?"_ She turned those her expression from Cinder. Emerald _had_ to use her semblance. She had to make the audience hate Yang, or the plan wouldn't work.

Yang activated her semblance and was starting the beat Mercury as Emerald spotted Jaune, cheering her on wildly beside Nora. They both had on hats that looked to say, "End it with a Yang!"

He would hate Emerald if he knew what she was going to do, that much was certain, but she realized she didn't want him to.

"Emerald, get ready!"

But she couldn't fail Cinder. She owed too much.

"She's walking away. Do it _now!"_

Emerald activated her semblance, knowing what she was making Yang see. Part of her heart broke as gasps flew around the meant everything. Cinder gave her everything.

As she sat back down in her seat,the illusion done, she hoped that Jaune could forgive her one day.

Yang wouldn't talk to anyone for days. The tournaments were on hold while the staff discussed her actions. She had broken Mercury's leg in front of everyone, seemingly for no reason. She said over and over that it was self-defense, but it was hard to know. To everyone else, it looked different.

Jaune believed her. He knew Yang would never just hurt someone for no reason. Over her baby sister, absolutely, but not out of nowhere.

Emerald was absent, too. He looked for her to try and see her opinion, but it was almost like those first few weeks when she almost disappeared. When he asked Cinder, she only said she was taking care of Mercury.

For all he knew, she was there patting his forehead with a wet cloth, getting closer to his fave and-.

"Ugh! I can't take this anymore!" Jaune fell onto his bed, covering his face with his pillow.

"I'm sure it's fine, Jaune." Nora started.

"She didn't seem to like him, remember? I mean there's the possibility that she hadn't realized her feelings yet and his injury made her realize she can't be without him." Jaune glared at the redhead. She giggled nervously.

"But I'm sure that's impossible. That would never happen."

"Good save." Jaune muttered, sighing into the pillow.

"I just don't get it. She said nothing was wrong and then suddenly it's like we're strangers again." Ren closed his book. Clearly, Nora wasn't going to help, so he would.

"Maybe because she spoke with Yang that night, she feels bad. She's worried. I'm sure it's not just you she's avoiding." He reasoned. Jaune lifted the pillow slowly. Ren stood and snatched it from his hand.

"And if you're worried about that guy, why not go visit and show your sympathy. That way you can see for yourself while also letting her know you care." Jaune grumbled.

"I hate how wise you are." Ren smiled softly.

"Oh! You should make pancakes! Not to bring, but because I _really_ want some." Nora chimed in. Ren moved to his partner and booped her nose.

"I'll make you some, so don't go asking him." Nora gave him a large smile.

"Yay!"

Jaune shook his head and left the room, heading to the academy store for a 'get well soon' card. His dad never told him just how complicated girls can be, and his sisters sure never seemed like this.

"Come on, please. Emerald folded her arms at Mercury.

"I am _not_ doing your laundry!"

"But I'm so hurt, Emmy. How can I do it with a broken leg?"

"Your leg is made of metal, you jerk!" She stomped childishly. Ever since the match he'd been trying to milk his fake injury, and it was irritating.

Mercury grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto the bedside. He held her hand in both of his and gave her his best puppy eyes.

"Nobody knows that, though. We have to keep the farce up or the plan doesn't work. You know how Cinder adores her nefarious plans. Please?" emerald sighed, but didn't answer.

"I think I also need a drink. Oh, and something from the food hall. I need my strength to recover." Emerald felt her mouth twitch.

"You're impossible!"

"And you're beautiful." He said smoothly,winking at her. She flicked his forehead.

"Too beautiful for you, toots." Emerald retaliated as a joke. Mercury accepted his burn, pretending to faint on his bed. Emerald rolled her eyes and grabbed his hamper.

She was getting better at avoiding the awkward moments Mercury seemed to enjoy creating. Clearly, he wasn't willing to give up on his confession for a while, but he wasn't pushy like before. Either way, it was a good distraction from what she did.

Since the incident, she made a point to stay in the dorm, pretending to be his caretaker. She wasn't sure if she was ready to see those wonderful blue eyes cloud with sustain quite yet.

She sighed, throwing his combat clothes, uniform, and a couple street clothes into the washing machine, trying her best to touch the delicates for too long.

She figured she'd grab his snack while they washed, then head back once they were in the dryer. She hummed down the hallway, trying to scrounge up some good childhood memories to help her mood.

She'd managed to think of a few by the time she'd made it back to the laundry room. She switched the clothes and waited for them to dry, playing around on her scroll. Once the machine she buzzed, she filled the hamper and started back towards the room.

"He'd better not complain or I'll break his arms, too." She said, looking at the snack on top of the clothes.

"Hey, Emerald!" The voice down the hall made her jump, dropping the soda and food. She was scrambling to put them back in place when Jaune caught up.

"Let me give you a hand." Jaune held out a gloved palm to help her stand. She tried to to meet his eyes. She mumbled a 'thank you' and moved to grab the hamper.

"Is this for Mercury? I can carry it for you. I have a card to give him anyway." At this, she forgot about her nervousness.

"A what?" She raised her eyebrow. Jaune cleared his throat.

"A card, just so he, you know, knows that I'm hoping he feels better, or whatever."

"That's not a very convincing argument, Jaune." The hunter slumped his shoulders.

"I know. I'm sorry." Emerald couldn't help but giggle.

"What's up, then?" She knew why he wanted to see her, but she wanted to hear him say it. He slowed down.

"I miss you. I miss talking to you. It's only been a few days, but the whole time I've wanted see you. I know Yang was your friend, so if you're worried about her, you can tell me about it." His boldness caught her off guard.

"I'm not- it's not because of that. I can't really say why I can't be around you. It's complicated." She stammered.

"Is it Mercury?" His voice was so soft, she knew he didn't mean the injury.

"No. It's not like that." Even Jaune could see how Mercury felt about her, and that made her irritated with her partner.

They walked a while in silence until Jaune spoke up.

"I heard they're going to continue the tournament tomorrow. My team picked Pyrrha for the doubles, but I think every knew that." Emerald made a note to tell Cinder the news.

"That's good. I think a lot of people would be upset if it was cancelled over that." Jaune chuckled.

"Yeah, and then we'd end up attracting a bunch of Grimm or something. It'd be like that time before the festival." Emerald coughed, pretending to laugh. He had no idea how close he was.

"That'd be awful." She tried not to sound sarcastic. They made it to her room then. She took the laundry from Jaune.

"I'll let him know you sent the card, okay?" She couldn't risk letting him into the room. Mercury could be doing push-ups as they spoke. Jaune just nodded and placed the card onto the hamper.

"Do you… maybe want to do something after the match tomorrow?" He was more confident than when they met, something Emerald liked. It helped her feel more confident.

"Sure." She knew that it wouldn't happen, but it was nice to pretend. She stepped into the room and tossed Mercury's drink to him. He made a stupid remark before opening the van and getting sprayed in the face.

"By the way, I think I dropped that on the floor." She said and fell into a fit of giggles.

"Now you tell me!"

 **I finally finished this one. I've been running up three flights of stairs for the past few days with many many boxes T.T but I'm done!**

 **Next chapter is PVP, who's excited? Emerald is becoming a little more compassionate for her little Jauney boy haha. Let me know what you think is gonna happen next :)**


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you both understand?" Cinder glared at her henchmen with authority. She had her hand on her hip, waiting.

"Yes, ma'am." Mercury replied obediently. Emerald hesitated, her head spinning from the incident against Yang. It replayed in her head over and over the night before.

"Yes, Cinder." She managed. The Raven haired huntress smiled.

"Good, the fun will be starting soon. Make sure you don't screw things up. I'm counting on you especially, my dear Emerald." She brushed passed the duo in her signature red dress, slit to the hip on one side, a cross section of fabric adorned with a large flower brooch. The leader said she liked it because it was both sexy and practical.

Emerald watched her click down the hallway in her heels, heading to a safe spot where she could watch until the time was perfect to interrupt. Mercury took her attention by squeezing her hand.

"Good luck out there." He grinned in his usual manner. Emerald rolled her eyes and tugged away her hand.

"I don't need luck. This is nothing haven't done before." She adjusted the low-cut top of her combat gear. Mercury cleared his throat.

"Right, sure, yeah. I'll be over there then." He rushed off, leaving his partner scowling. Emerald huffed and started towards her position. Everything up to now counted on her and her semblance, and tonight was no different.

She was a little nervous. Cinder would lose her mind if things didn't go well, but according to her, Pyrrha Nikos seemed to be distracted and worried, which meant she was easy to manipulate.

"After that stunt she pulled with the wall, she deserves a little stress." Emerald growled to herself. She had almost attacked the celebrity from her hiding spot when she threw Jaune into the academy wall. He was doing his best for her, yet she'd freaked out and used her polarity against him.

"That spoiled little redhead doesn't deserve his kindness." She muttered, clenching her fist.

The crowd was already bursting as she made her way to the railing. Maybe they were hoping the tournament was cancelled, or maybe they were just gossiping about Yang. Either way, it didn't matter.

Emerald leaned on the rail, her chin resting on a half gloved hand. She was easily able to spot Jaune and cursed herself for it.

Yang was right, Emerald had feelings for him. She wanted to be by his side, for him to give her attention like he did Pyrrha sometimes. She wanted to hear all his fun, and sometimes bad, jokes. She even wanted to have ice-cream like that first day. She wondered briefly if he remembered her favorite flavor.

Emerald touched the earrings dangling from her ears, then decided that it things went correctly, she might lose their the fray. She gently pulled the jewelry from her ears and stuffed it into the pocket of her white capri pants. She sighed and went back to her staring.

Jaune glanced in her direction, doing a double take once his brain registered her presence. He caught her eyes, sending her a thumbs up. She blushed, imagining his familiar chuckle.

"Being in love is so gross." She mumbled into her hand. She pushed off the rail and looked for a seat.

Jaune tried to move towards the dark skinned girl he knew, but he was grabbed by Nora.

"Yeah, Pyrrha!" She shouted, shaking Jaune in excitement. When he looked back, Emerald was gone, heading to a seat across the arena. He pulled away from his teammate lightly.

"She isn't even out yet, Nora. Save some excitement for then." He grumbled, slightly irritated. Jaune plopped down into the seat, at least glad that he could see her clearly. He couldn't help looking at her, she was beautiful and so out of league. He didn't have a clue why she flirted with him.

It wasn't long before professors Port and Oobleck started their routine and introduced Pyrrha and Penny. Nora shouted next to him, now needing to be heard. He stood and cheered for his partner, as well. He was excited to see her fight the Atlas student.

Sure, Jaune already knew her style well, but she didn't go all out when they trained. Since he was usually _in_ the real battles, he didn't have time to properly evaluate how she fought.

"Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos! It is a pleasure to meet you." Penny called to her opponent. The girl was so bouncy and friendly, it was hard to see her as a huntress, willing to risk her life against the Grimm.

Pyrrha said nothing, just looked at her hands and readied herself.

Jaune stopped his cheer then, thinking about the conversation they'd had before. Whatever this destiny she was worried about was, it was important enough to hang onto her conscious. He hated being unable to help. He frowned.

In front of him, Ruby stood and rushed out of the stands.

"Ruby?" He made eye contact with Emerald as the question left his lips. She had an unreadable expression. Something was going on, and it didn't feel good.

Emerald watched as the battle started, steeled for her task. She had to wait for the perfect moment to use her semblance on the Mistral champion. She had to do this for Cinder, no matter what.

Her scroll opened up. Cinder voice came through, low in her ear.

"Do not mess this up. You get one chance."

"I know."

Emerald closed the scroll. She met eyes with Jaune as the opponents below clashed. Suddenly she felt torn in two.

Could she really so this? Could she really kill Penny with someone else's hands? She was a robot, a weapon made by Atlas, but to Jaune and everyone else, she was a person.

She had to. She had to complete her mission.

Penny raised her swords and Emerald began. She went into a fog like always, knowing what she meant for the other person to see. Her heart skipped a beat with Pyrrha's, and then she fell out of it.

She'd lost control, but hadn't completely failed.

Pyrrha rolled to the left and used her polarity in a panic. She brought the swords just passed her body and sent them back at Penny.

The swords sliced through metal, taking with it the robots right arm and leg. She fell with a unconvincing scream. The audience gasped in unison.

Cinder started her speech, her voice shaky at the beginning, but steadying as she went. Ruby emerged in one of the entryways and fell to her knees.

Emerald felt her body tremble. Cinder's voice caught because she was angry, not nervous. She watched Emerald fail at the assassination. She watched her lose control. Cinder was not going let her off.

Jaune stood and stared at the scene below. As surprised by everyone else at the dismembered and not bleeding Penny. A familiar voice echoed across the arena, inciting fear and confusion into the crowd.

He moved to look where Emerald was. The huntress was holding herself, looking at the floor. Her head shot up and met his eyes; blue to tear filled red. She ran.

Jaune didn't know what to do. His partner was down there, having caused this and suddenly there was a Nevermore on the arena. People were trying to grab Penny, but a ring of fire enveloped her.

The voice on the speakers had stopped, replaced with screams from the audience. Jaune pushed his way through the crowd. He had to find Emerald before something bad happened.

"Jaune!" He stopped at Ren's call. Pyrrha was still in the arena, and the Nevermore was breaking the barrier.

"Dammit!" He grit his teeth and hopped the railing. He could feel the Grimm's final approach. He wasn't going to get to her in time.

"Move, Pyrrha!" His voice caught her attention just as the glass above shattered into pieces. Jaune was blown back.

His head cracked on the cement floor. When his eyes could focus, he saw a flash of red, then Ruby brandishing Penny's sword at the beast.

* * *

Penny was freed from the fire dome to find herself in an empty area outside of Beacon.

"Where am I?" She asked aloud. A hand grabbed a fistful of hair behind her, lifting her head.

Cinder stared at the abomination before her eyes; at Emerald's failure.

"You do not deserve life." She spoke coldly.

"I am sorry, can you help me find my parts? I feel very strange." Penny's voice betrayed nothing. Cinder curled her lip in disgust.

"No." She summoned a spear from fire and ash then ran the robot through the chest, heating the hand on her scalp and melting the circuits inside.

She dropped the thing and wiped her hand on her dress.

"If you want something done right, you have to do herself." She sighed and continued towards the rendezvous point, deciding to deal with Emerald later.

* * *

Emerald stumbled and looked around her. All the escape ships were on the other side. Not a soul or Grimm was around. The plan worked in the end, but that didn't change a thing.

She owed Cinder everything, and yet, she had just failed her. She let her heart get the better of her.

She fell to her knees, throwing her scroll in the process. She couldn't go meet with her and Mercury, not now. She was scared.

"What have I done? Will she let me stay by her side?" No one answered. Cinder wouldn't forgive her. Becoming the Fall Maiden was a vital part of her use to Salem.

Emerald's mistake could have cost Cinder her life, if not a limb at the very least. Salem did _not_ tolerate failure. Emerald was going to be killed if she was found.

"Emerald!" Jaune's voice carried from the way she came. He'd come to look for her. She waited, unable to stand.

He stopped behind her, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"I tried… Nevermore… had to save… Are you okay?" He huffed. She shook her head, not looking at him.

"I'm scared." She admitted. He crouched in front of her. Still, she didn't look at him.

"Whoever was on the microphone will pay, okay? We can handle these Grimm, everyone here will make sure of that."

She met his eyes and grabbed his arms.

"You don't get it. I don't care about the Grimm! Please just don't her find me, not yet." Jaune's eyes widened. He pulled her into an embrace without thinking.

"You're right, I don't get it. I know there's something wrong, but I can never help anyone, not even you. For now, just get up, Emerald. I'll protect you with my life. We need to go help everyone first, though."

Emerald nodded, allowing him to help her stand. She felt a locker land beside them.

"We need to hang on, okay? The rescue ships are all gone, so this is the only way down." He lifted her face, concern heavy in his features.

Suddenly, Emerald wasn't worried anymore. She could feel her strength and usual carefree attitude returning. Was this the power of his semblance with his allies?

"I've got this. You just make sure you hang on, Blondie." She grinned and pulled out her weapons, stabbing them into the locker side. Jaune hesitated, then stabbed his own sword next to hers. He punched in the coordinates to the entrance of the academy.

They crashed into the pavement minutes later. Jaune ripped his sword from the locker and walked towards the entrance.

"I need you to cover me. Somehow, I know that Pyrrha is in here. I have a bad feeling." he held out his hand. A spark of jealousy flashed through her.

"I'm sure there are professors inside. I'll cover the door, okay? I'm not sure she would want me around anyway." Emerald replied. She had a feeling that seeing Pyrrha would bring back that sinking feeling, and she didn't like it. There was a reason she learned not to feel guilty.

Jaune frowned, but she could see he understood just a little. He ran into the building.

Jaune took the elevator as low as it could go, glad that it still worked. There was a key turned in the lock to allow basement level access, so that's where he headed.

When the doors opened, he was greeted by a long hall lit with wall torches and the sight of Ozpin typing at a screen and his partner climbing into a pod. He could see that it was connected to another pod, this one occupied by a girl about Emerald's skin tone with a short brown bob haircut.

Emerald could feel it: Cinder was coming. Not just her, but something else, too. She stumbled as the ground shook. A piercing roar brought her a attention upward.

"What-?" This wasn't part of the plan Emerald knew.

A Grimm as large and very similar to a dragon was fast approaching, darkness literally falling from its skin. The creature roared once more, revealing a much larger maw than she originally thought.

She ran and hid. She knew she said she would watch the door, but a fireball in the distance alerted her to Cinder's approach.

Pyrrha led him a different route then where he came. She didn't speak, she didn't even hint that she felt bad for leaving Ozpin with Emerald's leader.

Jaune stumbled. He refused to believe Emerald knew, or that she would follow along with everything that's happened. She was better than that.

He'd resolved to ask her once Pyrrha explained the scene he walked in on, but she wasn't guarding the door like she said.

His heart stopped. Had Cinder found her? Could she be-?

"Jaune. I don't have time to explain." Pyrrha said. She had resolve in her emerald stare.

"Ozpin has her covered." At that moment they heard, the sound of someone flying up the elevator shaft. It couldn't be anyone but Cinder.

"How-?"

"Jaune you have to go. Get to Vale and call for help." She was looking at Ozpin's office, unblinking. She was going to fight her.

"No, you can't!" He grabbed her arm in desperation, only to be pulled into a kiss. He was caught by surprise and couldn't react. Suddenly, though, all the subtle things made sense.

She pulled away and searched his eyes for only a second before using her polarity to shove him into the same locker he'd ridden in on.

She slammed the door and started the coordinates.

"Pyrrha, no! You don't have to do this!" It was suicide to go after Cinder. Pyrrha said nothing, just hit launch.

There was a loud noise on the top not long after launch. Could it be a grimm?

Emerald clung to the locker, breathless. She'd seen everything. When she heard his shouts, she came to make sure he was safe, only to see Pyrrha clinging to him. The champion was going to sacrifice herself to hold off Cinder. Jaune was banging on the door. The moment they landed, he would run to her, that was just who he was.

The thrusters stopped and Emerald jumped to the pavement before it crashed. Before the dust cleared, Jaune had broken out, falling to his hands and knees.

He pulled out his scroll and called Ruby.

"Ruby, please. Pyrrha went to fight her. She going to die and I can't do anything! Please…"

"We won't let anything happen." Ruby's high pitched voice crackled through. Jaune was losing composure fast.

"I think… she already got to Emerald. What good am I?" The line was quiet for a moment.

"Go find her, Jaune. You're only useless if you choose to be." She hung up and he threw the scroll in response. Where watched, her hand on her mouth. He was worried about them both, not just Pyrrha.

Jaune watched his tears fall. He had to get up. He had to help, but he couldn't stand.

"Dammit!" He couldn't help his partner, so how could he hope to help the girl he had feelings for? How could he protect anyone?

"Jaune." He imagined her voice, as weak and vulnerable as it had been on the arena.

"I'm sorry."

"Jaune, I'm here." He was losing his mind. Or at least, he thought so until a dirty mint lock of hair curled on the pavement beside his hand. He followed the trail in disbelief.

His gaze rested on a disgrace Emerald. She gave him a weak smile.

"I hope you aren't bothered that I tagged along." She laughed nervously. Jaune lifted a hand, resting it on her face and leaving a smudge.

"Where were you?" She looked away.

"Cinder was coming, followed by that _thing."_ She pointed to the dragon Grimm clinging to Beacon tower.

"I ran. I hid." She finished. Jaune dropped his hand and stood, helping her up.

"Did you know?" He demanded. Her expression filled with hurt, but she said nothing. His heart sank. He grabbed her wrist.

"I shouldn't doubt you, I'm sorry. Please help me save her, Emerald." She nodded solemnly and called his weapons locker.

"How do you have-?" He stopped, remembering to ask later.

They moved to the positions from the arena and shot up towards the tower. Jaune watched in horror as the top of the tower fell. He could see Cinder and Pyrrha's small forms in the ruins of the office.

Emerald touched his arm.

* * *

Cinder broke free from the gears holdinh her down. Pyrrha was a formidable opponent. Cinder shot flame towards her.

" _How unfortunate that she has to die?"_ She thought. Pyrrha dodged easily, keeping pace. Cinder could feel herself draining, could feel pain in places she hadn't even been hit. She cursed the maiden power for this. Clearly, it was rejecting her do a degree.

Cinder parried the champion, pushing her into a back flip. Before Pyrrha could react though, she thrust a boulder of rubble towards her with all the might she could muster.

She used her shield, but Cinder saw the telltale sign of her aura draining. She took a breath, feeling a pain in her side.

"This ends now." She stood, readying and arrow. She let it fly the moment Pyrrha threw her shield. Cinder smiled.

She manipulated the arrow to morph arrow the obstacle. Cinder was hit by the shield.

She coughed blood, then looked to her opponent. Pyrrha was crouched down, huffing and staring right at her. She had a long, burned cut on her thigh.

Cinder gasped. The same mark had appeared on her thigh.

"What?! How did you do that?" Pyrrha stood shakily, favoring her uncut leg. Her eyes flared weakly with power.

"Do you… believe in destiny?" She spoke, smiling and passing out. Cinder lay still. Ozpin hadn't failed. Some of Amber's powers were in that girl.

Cinder thought about the battle. All that pain that she felt, it wasn't the powers rejecting her, it was Pyrrha's pain.

Cinder growled. She crawled to Pyrrha and summoned a knife of molten ash. The power was supposed to be _hers._

"No!" Cinders head shot up. Two voices shouted at once. She saw a stream of pure white then found Ruby, the dragon right behind her. The white enveloped everything.

It hurt.

* * *

Jaune and Emerald jumped, the former going first and forcing the latter. All Emerald could see before everything became white was Cinder, on her knees, about to stab Pyrrha.

She clung to whatever she could. Even with her eyes closed, everything was white. Was she blind?

The light cleared, and she found herself holding onto Jaune for dear life, her face buried into his chest plate. She only noticed because her vision went dark, and when she opened her eyes, she jumped, glad to see the gold embroidery of her armor.

Jaune met her eyes, the same confused expression on his face.

They looked around to a strange scene. Ruby had fainted near the edge, Pyrrha in the same state not far away. Cinder had disappeared, a burn stained circle and residue like that from the dragon the only indication of how she escaped.

"Jaune… look." She backed into him, pointed to the Grimm staring directly at them. The dragon was frozen white. It's maw was open mid-roar, wings bared. The duo stood still until help arrived.

* * *

Jaune refused to let Emerald out of his sight. When he wasn't sitting in on Pyrrha, he making sure she was comfortable. He hasn't asked yet again what her real involvement with Cinder was, but she knew it was coming.

The whole week, she saw and heard nothing of Mercury and Cinder. She currently wandered the forest near the inn they stayed at.

The Beacon staff had relocated Jaune, her and Pyrrha to a small village in Mistral as protection. They knew that Cinder had targeted Pyrrha and thought it was safer to keep them from Ruby, who had evidently been the cause of the white.

Emerald kicked an acorn. Jaune was busy with Pyrrha at the moment. She was inwardly happy for his attention, but every time he mentioned Pyrrha, all she saw was their kiss in her mind.

She cursed, feeling petty and weak. Emerald was not the type to feel jealous. She grumbled, kicking the acorn further. She need a place to sit and figure out what she was going to do.

Luckily, there was a stream not too far in. She slipped off her shoes and dipped her feet into the cooling water. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sunlight.

"So this is where you've been hiding." Emerald froze. She recognized that voice anywhere. She didn't move.

"C-Cinder?" A hand touched her face, pulling it toward a set of Amber eyes.

"Hello, my darling traitor." Emerald didn't breathe. Cinder smiled wickedly.

Her former leader had a large scar on her face, so bad that it had forced her left eye closed. The burn mark from the Fall shone on her leg, and her veins looked like Salem's.

"I want you to know that because of you, I am flawed. That I will no longer be accepted by Salem." She leaned in so that Emerald could feel the heat from the woman's face.

"I want you to know, that if I am captured and tortured to kill that filthy redhead, it is all because of you, you ungrateful bitch." She spat the words, throwing Emerald backward for emphasis. Cinder grabbed her upper arm and used her semblance, burning a scar into the flesh.

Emerald squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to scream. Cinder dropped her injured arm. The scent of Emerald's pain surrounded them.

"Now you, too are flawed, on the inside and out." Cinder laughed, causing her victim's blood running cold

Then just like that, she left. Emerald cried onto the leaves. Her tears mixed with the fresh stream.

She trusted Cinder, she owed her, she loved her like a sister, and now she'd become nothing but filth in her eyes. She'd become that because she allowed herself to be a proper human that felt guilt, instead of a person who was only surviving.

But even with that realization, she couldn't find it in her to blame Jaune for any of it.

Clutching her arm loosely, she put on her shoes and returned to the inn. They were taking care if Pyrrha, so surely they having bandages.

Jaune burst from the entrance before she could make it.

"What happened? We're you attacked? Was it Cinder?" Her head was spinning from his questions. She wanted to answer him, but she couldn't speak.

" _Now you are flawed, on the inside and out."_

How could she forget what she'd done? How could she pretend she wasn't a murderer? That she had even enjoyed it at times?

"Jaune…?" The boy stop babbling to himself immediately at her croaked request.

"I need to tell you something…" His eyes softened.

"Tell me later, okay? You need to rest. Pyrrha woke up today, so I know you'll be okay. Things will be okay." The huntress nodded silently, her heart sinking further and further with each step.

* * *

 **I've finally made it to where I change largely from Canon. Surprise! Pyrrha gets to live! I need her for plot haha. Unfortunately it seemed better to keep Penny how she was. If there are any spelling errors, let me know. I corrected that weird Spanish error from last chapter lol**


	8. Chapter 8

Emerald shuddered as the cooling salve touch her new scar. Jaune held her other hand, worry creasing his brow. The innkeeper wrapped the wound and promptly left to continue her duties.

Emerald watched the deer faunus retreat from the hall. She dreaded what she was going to say, but knew that Jaune deserved an answer.

"You don't have to say anything. All I want to know is why she did this to you? I thought you two were close...so why?" His piercing blue eyes searched for understanding. Emerald looked over him for just a moment, her heart aching as she glanced over his plain clothing. She almost wished he had on the silly Pumpkin Pete hoodie.

"I don't mean anything to her now." Emerald started. She felt Jaune tighten his grip on her hand, the ring on her finger pinching her slightly. If it weren't for the stone in her throat, would she have felt butterflies?

"When I was younger, Cinder found me. I was a petty thief that used my semblance to trick people, and she saw use in it." Jaune waited, but she knew the question he wasn't speaking; he didn't know her real semblance. She continued her story.

"I didn't know what I would have to become when I agreed, but by the time I found out… I'd already owed Cinder. I had a full stomach every day and the weapons and techniques to protect myself.

"I eventually learned that to live, I had to survive. I had to do what Cinder told me, no matter what. I stopped feeling guilt and started being carefree about the fear I brought in my wake."

Emerald took a breath, her voice beginning to shake. Jaune was staring at her hand in his now, his expression unknown.

"Keep going." He spoke, his own voice quivering. She wanted him to look at her, but then again she didn't. Instead, she did what she'd always done and obeyed.

"I knew that we were there to bring down Beacon from the start. I never went to school, especially not Haven. Penny was… an unexpected factor. Her existence was a rumor, but once it was confirmed, she became a necessity.

"I knew people would die. I knew that most everything would depend on my semblance." Emerald laughed softly, shaking her head.

"My semblance is like a personal illusion. I can make someone see anything I want them to, or not see. I only lied because I was ordered to, to learn about you."

This time, when Jaune tightened his grip, it was in anger, not confusion. Emerald sped up her explanation.

"Don't think that was it, Jaune. Since I met you, something drew me to you. For a while I thought it was _your_ semblance, tricking me, but soon I wanted to watch over you. I wanted to be closer to you."

Jaune was visibly conflicted.

"What is my semblance, Emerald? What did you find out?" She moved to her knees to be in front of him. He looked to her from the chair, still grasping her. She tried to convey her own conflict from the past few weeks in her scarlet gaze.

"You project your aura in a way that boosts your comrades emotions, but changes the enemy's to make them confused, defenseless. You did it to Mercury when he tried to threaten you once, at the fair, remember?" She can see him trying to recall, to think back before everything went wrong.

"I thought you used it on me, and maybe you did on accident, but it became more than that. I wanted to play with Pyrrha, because I was jealous. You made me remember who I used to be, though. I started worrying about the things I was doing." Emerald lowered her gaze to his scuffed up sneakers and took another deep breath.

"I made everyone blame Yang. I made her see Mercury get up and attack her. I was supposed to make Pyrrha kill Penny, not just injure her. Something so easy to me before, I couldn't do. Penny wasn't human, but you guys all cared about her in some way."

Tears were falling to the wooden planks below, drops splashing next to her hair and his shoes. She felt her hand be dropped on for her chin to be lifted a heartbeat later. Jaune's face was serious as he met her gaze.

"Why didn't you do it? Why did you change your mind?"

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill in front of you. When I use my semblance, if I'm not involved, I go into a fog. I know my intention, but I can never really see what they see. I couldn't frighten Pyrrha so much that she used her polarity in complete panic."

"Even if it meant you would fail Cinder?" Emerald nodded. Jaune lightly brushed the bandage on her arm.

"'I am flawed. Now you are, too.' That's what she said to me. This is a reminder of my failure, of how she sees me. I'm nothing but street trash to her now." The tears were starting to burn. Emerald could feel her heart breaking. Now that he knew most of what she was, he would surely fall right to Pyrrha.

"Listen to me, Emerald. I'm going to tell you what I told that silver guy. You've done what you had to. Sure, it's more than I thought, but the point is, you never got lost in those things like Cinder did. You came back. You stayed human."

Images of Cinder, veins purple and the pure insanity in her voice. Something in her was different, and it wasn't only the maiden powers.

"You forgive me then?" The thief asked quietly, looking up to her knight. The seriousness left his face, replaced by a softness and blush on his cheeks.

"Well, you did say that it was a lot of my fault, and maybe more, so how can I be upset? You aren't that person, even if it still lingers."

Relief spread through Emerald. She could finally feel the warmth of his touch melting the ice in her veins.

"Jaune-"

"Jaune?" Emerald tensed at Pyrrha's voice behind her. Jaune stood, helping her up as he spoke to the champion.

"Pyrrha? You shouldn't be pushing yourself." The redhead regarded the two sadly, her hand gripping the door frame roughly. She smiled.

"I know, it's just that I remembered something that I needed to tell you about. I didn't know she was here as well." While he may have missed it, Emerald heard the poison in her rival's words. Clearly, the power within her had changed her, just as it did Cinder.

"What is it about? Does it have to do with Cinder?" Jaune stepped forward, curious. Pyrrha nodded, holding contact with Emerald. The boy noticed and moved back to her side protectively.

"She helped me that night, and she was close to Cinder. She deserves to know."

"Was?" Pyrrha raised her eyebrow. After a silent conversation with her leader she sighed and entered the room, closing the door.

"Firstly, I don't know your involvement with Cinder, but I can say that I am glad to see you with us and not the enemy." Pyrrha's usual motherly tone lifted into her words. Emerald didn't react. Jaune led the two to sit next to his partner. Emerald chose the position farthest from her.

"Second, I felt her here earlier. She gave you that injury, didn't she?" Emerald knew the girl was pointing to her bandage. She just didn't know how she knew who had inflicted it.

"What do you mean, you felt her?" The question suspended in air. Pyrrha closed her eyes and took a breath. What looked like fire winged from her eyes. When she opened them, Emerald could see Amber swirling in the left eye. She gasped, remembering Cinder's injury. Jaune said nothing.

"When she interrupted the transfer between Amber and I, it was too late. Instead of taking everything, she connected us. When we fought, it started with feeling the echoed of her injuries. By the end of the battle, we had the same wound." She hovered over where her listeners knew she had a long thin burn from an arrow meant to immobilize her.

"I feel what she feels. Our fate is the same now. I feel some of her confidence, and the war in her mind to not feel my compassion. It's vague, so I don't know what she's thinking, but there's something dark in her." The power faded from the half-maiden. She gasped, as if channeling it had taken much from her.

"You're still weak, Pyrrha. You shouldn't have tuned in so long." Emerald smiled inwardly at his concern, reminded again of his kind heart. He stood.

"I hate to say this, but I think you should lay low for a while. Cinder is unstable and she knows where you are." Pyrrha nodded slowly in understanding, the sadness from before returning.

"I had already planned that. We're close to Blake. I saw the letter Ruby sent you, so I plan to join her, whether she likes it or not; whether _I_ like it or not." Emerald stood, feeling like an intruder.

She walked from the room, giving Jaune a feeble excuse. He should go with her, but he wasn't. What was this letter from Ruby? She hadn't heard anything about it, but Pyrrha had read it. It was obvious that she knew a lot more about Jaune, that he trusted her.

Emerald had just given him a whole new set of reasons _not_ to trust her, so it made sense. She was sure he had some sort of suspicion before today, he was just too nice to press her on it.

She stumbled to her room, needing a moment. She sat on the bed, taking deep breaths and processing the day. After Pyrrha's brief explanation, she understood what Cinder had meant about being tortured. It wasn't hard to imagine Salem punishing Pyrrha indirectly, even if it meant destroying her favorite toy.

Emerald clenched her fists, hard enough to leave little crescent intentions in her palms. It was all her fault. Ozpin could have been delayed enough if it weren't for her failure. Emerald could've been by her side, helping, but she wasn't. Instead, she was hiding. She inhaled sharply.

 _Ozpin was dead._

Jaune and Emerald would have never dropped in on the battle in his office if Cinder hadn't eliminated him. Her former leader's face surfaced in her mind, beaten and dark.

Where else would Cinder have gone first if not to Salem? She had brought down Beacon, killed the one person capable of standing in Salem's way, and managed to absorb some of the Fall Maiden power. That meant she wasn't a complete failure.

However, she allowed a petty minion to betray her and now had a very clear weakness. She would most likely never complete her mission. Could a half maiden open a vault?

Emerald knew at once that Salem had shown a rare occurrence of mercy to her favorite. She had let Cinder have a fighting start, but not before possibly disfiguring or poisoning her.

A new-found anger rose inside of her chest. Anger for her closest friend, the person who gave her everything. She was in pain and it was all because of that Grimm-hag. She wanted to free Cinder from the pain forced on her.

Just as she decided this, a soft knock sounded from her door. Her heart jumped. The fiery eyed huntress stood and opened her door confidently.

"Hello." Pyrrha waved, a nervous smile playing on her lips. She had taken off her crown, replacing it with an emerald encrusted hair pin. Emerald didn't want to wonder where the new jewelry had come from.

She unconsciously played with the earrings resting in the pocket of her shorts. She shifted on her feet, waiting for girl to talk.

"Emerald, I want you to take care of Jaune. I want you to help him- and Ruby- with their goal." Emerald scowled.

"And what goal is that?" She crosses her arms over her chest, careful not to press on her wound. Just the fact that she had anything to do with Cinder's suffering was enough to bring a bite to her words. Her feelings for Jaune were just added irritation.

"The goal to save Haven." Pyrrha was stone faced. She closed her eyes and centered herself for a moment. Emerald glances down to noticed her clenching and wringing her hands.

"I know that Cinder isn't the end of this. Something happened to her after the battle. I was unconscious, but I felt it. She isn't completely herself anymore." The champion opened her eyes, bright green orbs swirling with Amber for a brief moment.

"Emerald, I'm telling you this because I know you care about her. Jaune didn't tell me the truth about you, but I'm guessing you did something to warrant that injury."

"I understand. I'm going to help, for my own reasons."

The next day, the group set out for Menagerie, against Jaune's protests, to keep Pyrrha safe. They weren't far from the coast, so the Grimm didn't pose much trouble. A few beowolfs were nothing. Only when they encountered a sleuth of Ursi did they have to tread carefully.

Throughout the trip, Emerald and Jaune worked with Pyrrha to start harnessing her powers. She was formidable before, but once she started to tune in with her strength, she had both Emerald and Jaune constantly on their toes. The mint haired thief could only imagine if she was given all of Amber's gift.

 _Or if Cinder did._

Not a day went by that she didn't think about her. The day she watched Pyrrha, dressed in a beige cloak, hair done in braids, faded into the distance heading to the island of faunus was no exception.

"She'll be alright. I know it." She said nothing to reassure Jaune. He turned to her, an easy smile on his face. The weight on Emerald's heart lightened slightly.

Since the day she told him everything, he hadn't mentioned anything. She wondered briefly if he knew that she had essentially confessed her feelings to him. But seeing the spark in his gaze, she knew that it didn't matter just yet. She turned and started towards Patch, Jaune in tow.

* * *

 **I had planned to get this out sooner and it's a little shorter than I wanted, but I've had a lot of things coming up that I just didn't have the time to write. I'm fairly satisfied with this chapter. Next chapter will definitely be some romance development and maybe a little bit of what happens with Pyrrha, but only for plot purposes. Thank you for all being so patient :)**

 **Also, I've had an issue where I've responded to every review, however I have done it on the app. So I guess those didn't go through. I'll be trying to use the website to respond from now on**


	9. Chapter 9

The blades of my sickles slices cleanly through the Creep's shadow flesh. I tried to slow my racing heart as it melted into the nothingness that Grimm do. Once the adreneline died down, I checked my blade, admiring the job I'd done last night sharpening them.

"You're really cool, you know? Woah-" Emerald glaced behind her just in time to see Jaune catch his own fall. She took a deep breath and called over her shoulder. "Maybe, but I wish I had a fancy sword like yours that never needed a tune up." The blades folded back into her revolvers, chain retracting in enough so she could put them in their holsters.

Jaune chuckled in a way that made the huntress smile unintentionally. They continued their journey to Patch, now only a few miles and a ferry ride away from the red-caped girl that was going to lead them against Salem's forces, and hopefully to Cinder.

Emerald didn't know what she was going to do when she met with her former boss, but somehow she found find a way to help Cinder and free her from Salem. Her injury felt hot just thinking about it.

"Hey, Emerald, wait up. Are you okay?" Jaune fell into step beside her. "Huh? Yeah, why?" His concern had startled her. Jaune pointed at her arm. She was rubbing the scar wound. She blushed and shoved her hands in her pockets. Jaune cleared his throat.

"Look, if you ever need me for anything, you can let me know. I won't think any less of you. Actually, I'd be happy if you put your trust in me. I trust you." Emerald said nothing. It was stuff like this that made it so frustrating to be around him. Jaune hadn't mentioned anything about the day they found out about the maiden powers. She stopped.

"I'm okay. Don't worry. After everything, you know I'd let you know." Jaune's eyes brightened more than she thought they could. He smiled almost like he was trying to hide it. "Okay." He said. He grabbed Emerald's hand and started leading her forward. _So frustrating._ She huffed.

The duo arrived at the ferry just in time to rush on, Emerald, to both her dismay and a part of her she ignored, hiding under Jaune's Pumpkin Pete hoodie. People might recognize Emerald and they couldn't risk time being banned from the boat. When Emerald said this out loud, Jaune had just immediately pulled out his signature sweater.

They stood leaned against the railing, Emerald facing the sea and Jaune keeping an eye on the guests. It reminded her just a little of the night on the balcony. "Jaune." She started calmly. He kept his eye sharp, but motioned with his hand that he had heard her.

"What are you going to tell Ruby?" A quick thought made her hesitate. She cleared her throat. "Or have already told her in a letter?" The hunter moved all attention to her, eyes wide. "I hadn't thought of that. She only knows you're going with us." He put his hand to his chin, thinking hard. Emerald stiffled a sigh of relief. Jaune mumbled to himself.

"I've decided, Emerald, that I'm not going to tell her anything." The girl beside him raised an eyebrow. He shifted, moving closer to her. "I think it's up to you, you know? I can tell that you trusted me by telling me. A-and I didn't tell Pyrrha anything either. " Emerald huffed.

"I never said you couldn't, but thank you." A lot of the ferry ride was quiet. As the sun set and night fell, Emerald felt herself able to breathe a little easier. She dropped the hood of the jacket and closed her eyes. A memory of the ocean spray was settling like a fog, but it wasn't clear enough for her to remember.

"Hey, you know, you look really, uh, cute in that." Jaune had taken off most of his gear. He had his hands in his pockets. Emerald stepped back to show off the rabbit face, letting the sleeves go over her hands. She giggled a little.

"I'm a big bad thief, Jaune, I don't look _cute_. I'm fearsome and whatever." He chuckled quietly. "You're right, you're beautiful." His eyes shone the color of the moonlight.

Jaune felt a strange sense of confidence seeing her ruby eyes widen. She really did look beautiful. It was like the moonlight was made for her. He knew she was waiting for him to mess up or be the puppy-dog type of guy he was, but right now he was a different type of guy.

"Emerald." She started playing with the sweater cuffs. "Y-yeah? Why are you sounding all serious right now?" He couldn't help smiling. Suddenly, he was so happy this girl turned out to be human, that she chose to be different than what she could've been.

In only a few steps he closed the distance between them. Emerald was holding her breath as he grasped her hand inside the soft fabric. She had never looked so vulnerable before. "Emerald." He repeated.

Her heart was pounding so much she could feel her pulse all through her body. When he said her name again, she started to move back. The fearless thief was suddenly nervous and it was overwhelming. She stepped back only to caught by the waist and pulled right back.

And then he was kissing her and their fingers were interlaced. Emerald's heart skipped and she did what she did best and just reacted. In an instant all the nerves fell away and she felt warm and safe, like she'd never felt before. She felt like she should've been surprised, but she knew Jaune was more than most people thought.

When he pulled away, it felt like she'd just been drenched with ice water, except for the places his touch lingered. The knight was breathing out of rythme. It made her want nothing more than to kiss him again. Even as she watched the confidence start to fall away.

"I didn't mean to- I should've asked or something, but you...kissed me back." His grip tightened. Emerald moved her hand to rest on his cheek, her dark skin a deep contrast to his.

"It feels good to feel again. It's been so long since I have. It feels amazing to make choices instead of follow orders. I don't know when I last felt this." Her thumb brushed his lower lip. "And I know I've never felt this. You gave this to me, but you don't have to keep going with me. You can go your own way even if we travel together." Jaune took a deep breath.

"I know." His free hand began to twirl a lock of longer hair. "I don't know when me caring about you became more. I-I thought I liked Weiss before this. I saw you with your eyes closed, enjoying the night air, and I knew then what it meant to risk everything the way you did. I knew that I could do that for you."

Her head was spinning. She had wanted to hear that and now that something improbable suddenly happened, she wasn't sure what to do. Emerald moved away. "I'm happy to hear that. Honestly, I just don't know how to... you know." Her instincts were telling her not to be vulnerable, not to let her guard down. At the same time, her lips were still tingling. Jaune nodded.

"First, can I tell you something?" Emerald shifted her weight and took a breath of the briny night air. She nodded. Jaune chuckled nervously. "I was thinking about what you said about my semblance a while ago, at the cabin. I don't know, but I think you were right. I actually thought I didn't have a semblance, that I was only meant to be a failure." He was silent for a moment, eyes closed. Emerald waited.

"I think I know when it happened, when my semblance activated. One of my sisters tried to... to end her life. When I saw her laying in that hospital bed, I wanted nothing more for her to be strong again, for her to be okay. When she woke up, she suddenly felt so confident, to the point that she didn't even understand how she even felt the way she did before the hospital.

"The professors said that a semblance can activate if something drastic happens, and that must have been it. When I left for Beacon, I was so worried, but she still seems to be doing well. She likes the little gifts I send her. I'm really glad that you told me, because now I feel like I can really be useful. I'm one step closer to being able to protect the things I care about."

Emerald rushed forward and hugged him tightly. He was trusting her. The pieces were falling into place about his sister. She thought about how hard he would work when they trained with Pyrrha. He pushed himself so hard to become who he wanted to be. Emerald wasn't sure who she wanted to be, she'd been okay with the person she used to be and now the answer was unclear.

"We don't have much further to go to Patch, but we can train a little more on the way." She suggested, letting go of him. "I can show you some of my fighting style so you can be ready for anything." His eyes lit up and a wide grin spread on his face. "I'd like that. I like the way you fight, it suits you well." He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

They talked a little more about strategy the next day until the ferry docked, then set out for the last bits of their journey to Ruby. Once they reached her, the trio would set out to meet with Nora and Ren, then continue to Haven academy.

Everything was starting to feel like it would fall into place.

* * *

When they met with Ruby, it was quick, she was in a hurry to leave. Her normally bubbly personality was distant and paranoid. Only when the group was a few hours away from her home did she breathe. Ruby plopped down onto a fallen log. "Phew, finally."

"Ruby, are you alright?" Jaune spoke up. Ruby jumped like she'd forgotten her friends were there. "Huh? What? Oh, it's nothing. Just worried about Yang and my dad and Zwei. It's really okay, this is important." She laughed nervously. There was a brief silence. By now, anyone who was at Beacon the night of the Fall knew that Yang, the most popular and outspoken fist-fighter, had lost her arm against a member of the White Fang. It was supposedly why Blake ran away.

Emerald crossed her arms and fidgeted with the beads on her wrist. "Look, Ruby. Yang is tough and even if she seems like she's losing hope, she's not. I don't know much about her, but I know what it's like to fall down and feel like nothing matters. She just needs a bit to get her footing and get back up." The dark-haired girl said nothing, but the way her silver eyes shone at Emerald, there was an understanding of how thankful she was.

Ruby shot up, now her normal perky self. "Alllllright team! Let's meet up with Ren and Nora and get this show on the road! We can do it!" She marched forward, cape going wild in the wind as if it were stirred up by her words. Jaune and Emerald exchanged a glance and laughed.

When they made it to the next ferry, the ride was never dull or quiet. Ruby was running around trying food or talking about her theories about Zwei's secret life. Emerald had worn Jaune's sweater inside out to avoid any questions, but he was always close to her if she needed him. Even when he had team leader meetings with Ruby, he would glance her way and make sure no one was causing trouble.

It made her heart flutter, even when it conflicted with her instinct. She had to focus on how to help Cinder and how to help fight against Salem. She didn't know any useful information, but she knew that even just the sight of their enemy would stop them cold. She needed to train her semblance to work on more than one person. Maybe she could confuse all of the enemy or boost Jaune's ability by easing the things her allies saw.

She was currently trying to make a group of three spot a shimmering fish near the boat, something beautiful, instead she was rewarded with a sharp pain and only two of them pointing out the nonexistant creature. She would definately need to practice when they stayed in villages.

For now, she wouldn't move further with Jaune until she improved their odds. Now wasn't the time for luxuries, it was time to figure out what to do next. Across the room, Ruby messed up her hair and slumped, frustrated.

Emerald chewed her lip. She knew a little about the immediate plans with Haven, and it wasn't hard to figure out the rest, she just didn't know the order things would happen. The biggest challenge was going to be telling everyone else how she knew this information. She knew already that Jaune wasn't pressing, but he was aware that she had withheld information. She would have to come clean eventually, and probably sooner rather than later.

By the time they had reached the coastal village the others were staying in, the thief was visibly nervous. Even Ruby wasn't falling for her cool girl front. That night, as Ruby, Ren, and Nora caught up, Jaune brought Emerald to the balcony by the hand.

"I know the night time makes you feel better." He stated, squeezing her hand lightly. Emerald smiled. "Thank you, my valiant knight. I'm just not sure about how to tell everyone about me." Jaune nodded, piecing it all together. "I already know, so is it about what we might be facing?" She nodded in response.

"Will you tell me?" His tone turned serious. "Maybe, for now, you and I can figure out what to do." She shook her head, running her fingers through the bright strands. "No, Jaune, I can't do that. You're important in this group, they trust you completely. I'm someone from the sidelines, someone who shouldn't even be here. If they find out you were keeping things from them and lying, they'd only be hurt."

The hunter was quiet, but she knew he understood. They stood outside for a while longer in peaceful quiet before returning to the group. Looking up at the stars, Emerald knew this wasn't going to be easy, but somehow she felt things would go their way, just a bit. She was surrounded by people Salem could have never expected to be challenged by, including herself. She was ready.

* * *

 **Alright! So this chapter was definitely a long wait. Nothing special happens, so I'm sorry not to come back from my hiatus with bang. A lot of things have been happening and I sort of lost my motivation to focus on this or my originals. HOWEVER I think it was definitely about time for Emerald to go into her moody teen phase with Jaune and that he was ready to show off his confidence. I'm going to be trying to push out a few more chapters soon and get to a really pivotal point again. I think I'm just delaying the whole Ren arc as much as I can. At any rate, thank you all for STILL reading my story and supporting me 3**


	10. Chapter 10

Menagerie was more than Pyrrha could have expected. There were faunus everywhere, and she could see they were all comfortable in the way they lived. The faunus she had always seen outside of this island always had a defensive undertone to their movements, but here, the people had nothing to worry about.

There were a few humans throughout the markets, Making Pyrrha comfortable able to walk around. She ran her fingers along the the crowned braids she'd pulled her hair into. It was uncomfortable, but necessary. She bought a hotel room and laid her bags down.

She began to unravel each braid and eave her hair loose. She moved to the mirror. "It'll look better short." She said aloud. It was Cinder's influence again. Pyrrha shook her head. "B-but I like it this way, it matched my mature personality."

Sometimes, when the two half-maidens bond at random, she can feel Cinder's opinions vaguely, but strong enough to voice. Pyrrha felt a little irritated, knowing full well that Cinder herself had long hair. She pushed the emotion through and received he feeling that in fact, no, Cinder did not have the same femme fatale look she did before.

Pain shot through the champion's head. She fell on her knees. Pyrrha pulled herself up and looked in the mirror. The maiden flame was dull in her right eye, and Cinder's amber color stared back at her. Pyrhha closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

The pain was becoming more and more frequent, but this time, she didn't feel Cinder pushing against the pain before the connection cut off, she'd just let it wash over her. What happened to her to make her always be in pain?

Back to normal now, the red haired huntress examined the waves left by the braided and briny water. "Shorter hair would be more advantageous in battle..." She huffed and decided to take a shower and get to finding Blake. She wasn't sure how the cat faunus would respond to her surprise visit, but she had a plan to get on her side.

Once in the shower, Pyrrha tried to tap into the elemental abilities granted to her and ended up making a bunch of icesicles. The small success made her smile. Before, she wasn't sure she was the right choice becoming the Fall maiden, but now, even though she doesn't have the full power, it felt right. I felt like she was meant for this. She focused on making a connection to Cinder, sharing the feeling. Whatever her counterpart was going through, Pyrrha knew that just this vague emotion would help.

She stopped once again at the mirror and shook her head. Once again, not choosing to humor a haircut. She dress in plain clothes, something that still felt strange compared to her usual gladiator style. She opted out of the sweater on her bed, not wanting it to yet be ruined by the briny air of the island's coast. She held her tiara in her ungloved hands. Some things needed to stay the same.

Pyrrha wandered the streets, keeping her senses and eyes peeled. The first time she heard a whisper of "Belladonna" she could help but stumble a bit, thinking Blake was near, but it turned out that the Belladonna name was well known here, but she didn't have time to figure out why just yet. Blake was likely somewhere in the markets, trying to blend in and out things together.

"That's not the point, Sun!" Pyrrha gasped at the sound of the familiar voice. She turned to see a flustered Blake, clearly going on about something to the monkey faunus from Vacuo, who seemed not to care too much. The red-head popped in right towards the end.

"We still aren't equal!"

"Who isn't? You and this boy?" Pyrrha asked. Blake yelped and jumped, behind the boy, an almost hiss coming from her mouth. Her wide yellow eyes took in Pyrrha a moment later. A sudden shadow crossed her face.  
"P-Pyrrha? Is Ruby here, too? Is..." She trailed. Pyrrha shook her head. "Just me, I'm afraid. I came to find you for different reasons than I'm sure you can imagine. Also, hello." The champion added happily, to take the ease off of what she'd said.

"Pyrrha, huh? Like Nikos? You're a pretty cool fighter. I'm Sun, pleasure to meet ya." The faunus boy reached out a hand, and Pyrrha shook it politely. Blake bit her lip nervously.

"So, why are you here?" The raven-haired cat's voice was stronger now as she stepped away from Sun. Pyrrha had expected her to be distrustful. The two of them weren't exact close close before, just ort of ran in the same circles.

"Well, to be honest, Blake, I'd rather not talk about it in the middle of thee street here. Is there some place we could go?" She gestured down the hill, where most of the homes were clustered together. Sun brightened up.

"Oh, yeah! Come on, Blake! Which one if yours? Is it that one? That one? I like the paint job." He kept pointing at various houses with no particular pattern. Blake's ear twitched and she cleared her throat, pointing out to the large mansion at the end of the road. "That one."

Sun's mouth fell open, and he looked from her to the house. His hands flew to his face and he made a fairly girly noise, that painfully reminded Pyrrha a bit of Jaune. She began to walk forward, grabbing Blake by the hand as she went.

"Then, let's go, shall we?"

* * *

The trio hovered by the door. Blake was biting her lip again, hand hesitating on the knocker. Pyrrha laid a hand on her shoulder, and Sun followed suit on the other side. Blake sighed and used the large knocker. There was a low, resounding sound with each knock. Sun quickly removed his hand as they all waited."To be honest, that's a bit intimidating."

It took a moment, but finally the large door opened. A small, older face peeked out for a moment before the faunus' ears perked up. The door swung wide and suddenly Blake was in an embrace. "Oh! Blake, honey. My baby girl." The woman said the last part quietly. Pyrrha could see the resemblance.

Not long after, another pair of footsteps is heard and a large man is standing in the doorway. "Kali? Who is it?" With another pair of yellow eyes comes shock. Kali, Blake's mother, is now beside her daughter, mimickking the supportive gesture Pyrrha and Sun have given the huntress moments before. Blake's hands are clasped together and shaking slightly in front of her.

The man smiles warmly. "Welcome home, my daughter." Blake smiles and shares a glance with Sun. He invites the group inside and leads them to a main room. He mutters to a rabbit faunus and she bows and leaves the room. _Servants._ Pyrrha notes.

"My name is Ghira Belladonna, it is a pleasure to meet..." His gaze lingers on Sun. "All of you." He continues at a glare from Kali. "I am the Cheiftain here in Kuo Kuana." Sun mutters a very unconfident hello and Pyrrha gives her usual greeting.

"So, what brings you all here? I mean, I'm so happy you are all safe, especially you, Blake, but to be hoonest, I wasn't expecting you to bring others." Pyrrha was grateful that there was no animosity in her voice. It was clear just by wandering the streets that most faunus on the island didn't appreciate her prescence as a human.

"I-I'd rather not talk about it yet, mom." Blake answered. Sun chimed in. "I came to make sure she was okay." All eyes turned to Pyrrha. "And I suppose I came to deliver a message to the cheiftain and Blake herself. The room raised an eyebrow.

The rabbit faunus returned with a tray of tea. She set down a cup for everyone and left the room. No one spoke for a moment. Suddenly, Kali set down her cup and clapped her hands. "Well, let's talk about this ominous message later! For now, I'm just happy my daughter is home. I don't particulary feel anything for the kingdom of Vale, but they certainly didn't deserve what happened. We were so worried about you, honey."

Ghira scoffed beside his wife. "I knew Blake would be fine." Kali's ears twitched in amusement, She leaned in and cupped her mouth with one hand.

"You should of seen the way he was pacing." She giggled. Sun laughed and placed his hands behind his head.

"You guys have nothing to worry about! I've seen your daughter in action and she has some serious moves!" Blake choked on her tea and blushed. Ghira lowered his voice.

"And, what, Mr. Wukong, do you mean by that?" The dusty blonde opened his eyes in alarm and dropped his posture. He tumbled over his words.

"Just her fighting, sir. She is a very uh, er.. skilled fighter. She does very...uh well with her weapons, of course. And-and know her semblance, uh, really well. As a fellow fighter I...uh...have a lot of respect for her.." Kali moved towards the girls and whispered. "Why is he here again?" Meanwhile, the monkey continued to dig himself in deeper with Ghira.

" ...And her fighting. But also for her..." Blake groaned. "He just kind of followed me home."

"...b-because of her fighting. Not her, er, looks. I mean, not to say she's not good-looking. She is! Very! But, um..." Her mother nodded knowingly. "I see."

"Slightly, I mean she's definitely above average. One could even say gorgeous. I mean, uh..." Ghira held up a hand to finally stop the rambling.

"I get the picture. Now, Pyrrha, after that I think I'm ready to change the topic. Tell me your message." And just like that everything shifted and Pyrrha spoke the careful truth, omitting a few details for her own wellfare. She told them a few half-truths, but just enough for them to realize something needed action.

Ghira leaned back, disturbed. "So, you aren't sure the exact plans, but you know the White Fang is involved?" Blake bit her lip, waiting attentively. She clearly wanted to speak her mind, but was unsure if she should. Pyrrha continued.

"Yes, I do. I'm sure that we will need help. I know it likely doesn't mean much, but it's very upsetting that they have become a large reason why the faunus are looked down on by most." Kali lowered her ears, confused.

"I understand what you're saying, however the White Fang-" She was cut short by the knocker sounding through the house. The whole group was quiet before Ghira stood. "Blake, I want you and your friends to tell me everything that happened at Beacon that night. I want to know why I should be worried. For now, I'm going to take this meeting with the representatives in Menagerie. Do you understand?"

"Representatives?" She asked warily. The cheiftain left the room to greet his guests. Blake's mother looked nervous. Blake asked her silently what exactly what was going on.

"Honey, we see these two men from the White Fang every so often, and they seem very sincere, albeit a bit unsettling. As it is, aside from a few rumors, your father and I are having a hard time wrapping our heads around them being some big villian. There leader, Sienna, seems very capable."

Sun perked up at this. "Sienna? I thought Adam-" His mouth was clamped shut by Pyrrha's hand. She muttered a characteristic sorry to him and removed her hand. Blake was red with shame. "He was ambitious, but not yet there. I'm sure Sienna is either actually dead or about to be."

Not long after Ghira left the room did he return, this time with his two faunus guests. The room stood.

"These two wanted to give you their regards, Blake." Ghira explained. The two stood in robes, holding hands in front of them as if in prayer at all times. "Yes, miss Belladonna. We are glad to hear that you are safe within the walls of Menagerie." The man with ears spoke.

"Yes, miss Belladoona. We apologize for the distress our Vale branch has caused at your academy, but we assure you we do not represent their ways." The one with the tail added. Blake had her hands clenched beside her, but she said nothing. And so, the guests continued to speak.

"We are very sad to hear, however, that you have left the White Fang." The ears said flatly.

"We understand that is a wearying fight." At this, Blake did speak, low and strong. "Who said I was done fighting?" The men glanced at eachother. The one with the tail smiled.

"If you ever wish to rejoin, please do let us know. I'm sure sister Ilia will be pleased to hear of it." Blake inhaled sharply. Sensing the tension in the room, Kali clapped her hands together.

"Right! Well, I'm sure you two boys have other things to do. Let me take you to the door." She said as politely as possible. Pyrrha released the breath she was holding, knowing something was very wrong with those two. A splitting headache assailed her the moment they opened their mouths. She had strained to hide the weakness from them.

The Belladonna's settled into the room again. The cheiftain was clearly distracted by whatever had happened with the men. Sun seemed uncomfortable in the tense silence, broken only by the occasiona tea sip.

"Tell me about the fall of Beacon."

* * *

Cinder stumbled through the woods, able to move and control herself largely thanks to Pyrrha's flow of strength. She was sure that that pest weren't still alive, Cinder would've never made it this far. She could feel less pain in her blood. Less illness in her breathing. Less fatigue in her smallest movements.

She was a monster, a disgusting thing created by Salem as punishment. Somehow, though, Cinder knew this would've happened either way. She dared not pull up the fabric of her left sleeve. It was disgusting enough just knowing it was there, but to see it? It made her want to scream.

It didn't matter though. Having what little maiden powers she had on top of this curse made her all the more powerful. She was going to control herself, and through that, control others.

She would never admit to the bond she was feeling with Pyrrha's motherly, mature nature. Hell, she would never admit to not being a full maiden. As she climbed the steps of Sienna Khan's chamber, she kept her stride even, projecting her aura out so her underlings could feel her power.

As the doors swung open, she walked right up to the bottom stair. She couldn't help but laugh a little. "You look ridiculous sitting on a throne, my dear friend." Cinder pointed out. The dark-skinned faunus had her chin resting on a hand, legs crossed in a position that showed she didn't need to worry about being in a fight. She raised an eyebrow at her guest.

"And you look ridiculous at the bottom of my steps, yet here we are." Cinder had always liked the White Fang leader's spunk. Cinder smirked.

"Fair enough. Now, I'm sure you weren't expecting me all by lonesome, but I'm here of my own reasons, not Salem's." She practically felt the venom dripping into her mouth as she spoke the name. This made the leader's head raise in attention.

"Personal reasons?" Cinder glanced at the guards behind her, knowing then and there they were listening for the benefit of being informants. She frowned.

"You know, sweet Sienna, I would very much like a bit of privacy, you know, just us girls. This is a very important matter, and to be frank, I don't trust your little guards here." The tiger faunus stood. "What do you want, Cinder Fall?" The maiden rolled her eyes.

"For some odd reason, to save your life. But it's clear to me that you deserve the death coming your way." Cinder turned and began making her way to the doors. Before she could make it half way across the room, Sienna had stopped her.

"Tell me your message. I know that my organization is not clean, and I am partly to blame for this. However, I have much more work to do to continue our fight. I can't let it end for some one else's plans." Cinder glanced behind her, hair hiding the flash of green in her eye.

"Of course, your majesty."

* * *

Hello once again! I've unfortunately been doing this chapter in bits due to work and a few personal endeavors, not to mention that the first time I wrote out a big portion of it, it decided not to save .-. So I had to take a moment. I know a few of you were wanting to have some Pyrrha development, so here it is. I think it'll be nice to take a break from our lovers every now and then. Now, a lot of season four is going to be moved around or omitted/edited for repetition and plot purposes. I don't particularly feel the need to go into depth on the Ren/Nora arc, not to mention my battle writing is awful. ANYWAYS, I'll keep trying to keep this up to date.

Once again, this was NOT scrubbed for all errors! and the dialogue might be a bit funky format wise.

Thank you so much to all of you still reading! It's those few views I get per day that really make me want to keep going with this.


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